Sussex housing-target changes welcomed

Housebuilding has been a contentious issue across West Sussex. Pictured by Eddie Mitchell are protestors opposed to plans for hundreds of homes on a green gap on the Worthing/Arun border

The Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill is to be changed to make clear that centrally dictated targets are advisory instead of mandatory.

Councils across the area have struggled to hit their targets while needing to strike a balance between safeguard green gaps and with many sandwiched between the sea and protected South Downs.

The new rules will mean councils will be allowed to approve fewer developments if they can show hitting housing targets would significantly change the character of an area.

They also include a crackdown on developers keeping land unused even when it has been granted planning permission and a government review on making it easier to build on brownfield land.

The news was welcomed by Arundel & South Downs MP Andrew Griffith. He said: “This is the news that West Sussex has long waited for.

“Giving local communities the power to tackle the blight of overdevelopment is a positive step forward.

“Since very first being elected I have always made clear my opposition to top-down housing targets leading to unsustainable development on green field sites.

“This new flexibility in our planning reforms will help protect our precious environment and countryside whilst prioritising brownfield land developments.”

Countryside charity CPRE also welcomed the announcement. Interim chief executive Tom Fyans said: “It seems the government has finally got the message that solving the housing crisis hinges on meeting local housing need, rather than arbitrary top-down targets.

“If confirmed, this very sensible rethink is encouraging news for those at the sharp end of the housing crisis, as well as the countryside. The priority now must be to focus on quality social housing in the right place. Councils must retain a strong voice in the planning process and need more resources if they are to deliver genuinely affordable housing. We are encouraged by proposals to address the problem of short-term lets. A registration scheme may be a good first step, but we need to see much stronger controls and use of the planning system to determine local priorities.”