Lichfield District Council is up against a massive challenge: finding permission for 760 new homes every single year to contribute to the national 1.5 million target by 2029. The target imposed by the Labour government, which they want to hit before the end of their term.

But a recent potential decision has left us scratching our heads:

👉 A report is backing 230 new homes in Fradley (good news, it avoids the Green Belt, the right thing to do!).
👉 However, one of the conditions is said to be giving the developer, Bloor Homes, a 5-year deadline to start work, not finish, but START.
👉 The consequence? LDC can’t use these 230 homes to hit the annual 760 target, and the developer can simply ‘landbank’ the site, delaying construction until close to 2030, which follows the governments target.

It feels like one step forward, two steps back! We need homes building now, not a paper trail of permissions that can be sat on for years. This is utter madness if we’re serious about the housing crisis.

What’s your take on this? Are developers being held to account enough to build immediately once permission is granted? (Even though the reality is probably they can’t because of a labour shortage and material costs are sky high!)

#wrongtimewrongplace #Greenbelt #saveourgreenbelt #newhome #construction #planningpermission #planning