Council covering Banbury says it's been left vulnerable after policy means they have to show five years' housing supply

More than 8,000 homes with planning permission are yet to be built as council leaders say they have been left as “hostages” over national housing policy.

The government has stated councils must now demonstrate five years' worth of housing supply but Cherwell District Council already has thousands of homes with planning permission yet to be constructed.

The council can only demonstrate 2.3 years of housing rather than the required five years.

Jean Conway, Cherwell District Council portfolio holder for planning and development management, said the government’s decision was “incredibly frustrating”.

She added: “Despite Cherwell’s strong track record of delivery, the government’s changes mean that we’re being pushed back to the days when we must permit more development simply because housebuilders aren’t meeting their targets.

“All the while, the council is doing the right thing by advancing a new local plan that addresses our local housing needs.”

The council’s housing need has been increased from 706 homes per year to 1,118, under the government’s new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

Sites planned to help Oxford’s housing needs, which includes 4,400 homes, must also be factored into Cherwell’s housing land supply.

The council approved the creation of Housing Delivery Action Plan to speed up the progress of building homes and encourage sustainable growth at the meeting of the executive on Monday, February 3.

Ian Middleton, leader of the Green and Independent Alliance, said: “It’s become clear that allocating land for development doesn’t necessarily count towards our five year land supply until the developers deliver the houses.

“That’s not within the control of the council, especially on sites where issues such as lack of water, drainage or electricity restricts deliverability.

“So local authorities are left as hostages to fortune as developers are allocated sites which they then sit on, suppressing supply, whilst demanding more land from councils unable to refuse because the five-year rule is breached.

“It’s a self-sustaining circle of inequity which takes no account of reality and acts as little more than a charter for land banking.

“It certainly does nothing to encourage developers to actually build houses and should have been scrapped years ago.”

David Hingley, leader of the council and Cherwell Liberal Democrats, said: “The Labour government’s reintroduction of this policy, combined with the previous Conservative administration’s failure to progress the local plan, has left Cherwell in a vulnerable position.

“The new action plan will ensure that we are focused on delivering the homes our communities need while maintaining sustainable growth.

“We cannot allow speculative, unsustainable developments to dictate the future of our district.”

Eddie Reeves, leader of the Conservative group on Cherwell District Council, said: “The Liberal Democrats made promises they couldn’t keep on housing, and they’re now getting their comeuppance.”

Residents in Cherwell have two weeks left to comment on a vision for the future of their area.

Cherwell District Council has prepared its Proposed Local Plan 2042 which outlines possible housing sites. A formal consultation is running and will close on Tuesday, February 25. People can take part online by visiting cherwell.citizenspace.com