Housing Targets Will Not Be Reduced

The government intends to change the calculation of local housing need to stop councils citing the lower 2016 household projections issued by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as a reason to reduce totals. A consultation that runs until 7 December proposes that for the short term, the 2014-based data will be used to assess local housing need. National planning guidance would make it clear that the lower numbers in the ONS’ 2016-based projections “do not qualify as an exceptional circumstance that justifies a departure from the standard methodology”. The consultation said the 2016-based ONS projections had “led some areas to reconsider the number of homes they were planning for”. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/housing-targets-will-not-be-reduced-based-on-lower-household-projections-58804