Councils in rural areas have voiced their opposition to Labour’s housing targets on the grounds of insufficient services and an undermining of local plans.

And rather than say they will make their own services more efficient, the councils are calling on the government to relax their targets.

The County Councils Network – made up of 20 county councils in England and 17 county unitary authorities – claims communities face a developer ‘free for all’ and could be left at the mercy of speculative housing development under the government’s plans to reform the planning system.

The network says “nine in ten local authority surveyed” believe  new targets are excessive, claiming that on average, those local authority areas will see a 56% rise in the number new homes required per year – allegedly “far higher than any other part of the country.”

The county and unitary councils say they have “a chronic lack of infrastructure to cope with a dramatic increase in housing.”

The CCN argues that government’s proposals are being done in the wrong manner, and ministers should introduce strategic planning before implementing any new housebuilding targets, as this would allow councils to better plan for housing and infrastructure in their areas.

So the CCN wants the government to water down its proposal to re-introduce a ‘five-year land supply’. 

This will mean county unitary councils will have to show evidence each year that they have a supply of deliverable sites to provide a minimum of five years’ worth, against their housing target.

The county local authorities believe that developers could build out their planning permissions slowly – or not in full – ensuring that councils cannot meet their land supply targets. 

“Developers can then use this to successfully get permission on other sites outside a council’s Local Plan, often in locations that are unsuitable and with no consideration over whether there is any infrastructure” says the network in a lengthy statement.

Councils say they will be penalised for things outside of their control, such as developers failing to build out planning permissions.

A network spokesperson says: “The County Councils Network’s survey is clear: councils in rural and county areas are not anti-housing and the vast majority support the principle of nationally set targets. 

“But these targets are excessive and we are looking at having to build an extra 65,000 homes a year, without any commitment to the essential road networks, school places, and GP surgeries that will be required. 

“We don’t have enough infrastructure to cope now, let alone after building quarter of a million extra homes over the course of this Parliament. We also must remember much of this development in county areas will be in the places with limited or no public transport, compared to the benefits of building in or around cities where there is already good infrastructure.

“Worse still, the government’s proposal to re-introduce a five-year land supply drives a bulldozer through locally-agreed housing decisions in our Local Plans and empowers developers. If implemented alongside these dramatic new housing targets, we will see a developer free for all in many county and rural areas, weakening democracy and leading to development in unsuitable locations, regardless of local views.”