Keep housing targets to build more homes, says Cambridgeshire Development Forum

In its response to the Government’s consultation on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), the Cambridgeshire Development Forum (CDF) called for the national housing target to be kept, and that it should be the minimum number of homes which local authorities plan to deliver. They also asked for planning guidance not to change the Standard Method (SM) to an “advisory starting-point.”

The CDF said that the changes proposed by the Government to the NPPF would reduce the supply of new homes. They argued that the SM should be a minimum, and that permissions should be set at 70% above the target for the safe delivery of the required number of new homes.

In the CDF’s response to the consultation (Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill: reforms to national planning policy - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)) they also said that “removing the presumption in favour of sustainable development will do no more than hard-wire into the plan-making system the reluctance of local authorities to identify deliverable sites.”

Their response concludes by saying that without the mandatory adherence to national housing targets in the NPPF, the power to deliver against national housing need will be lost.