Eastbourne council has not ‘delivered enough homes’

The authority is one of eight which may now have some of their planning powers curbed.

Housing experts say the eight authorities will be forced to give greater weight to the government’s National Planning Policy Framework relative to their local policies when deciding whether to accept planning applications and that means sites not allocated as art of local plans may therefore be more likely to receive planning permission, as long as proposals meet a set criteria.

According to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s Housing Delivery Test numbers Eastbourne council has not delivered at least 45 per cent of the target number of homes the government has deemed as needed in its locality over the past three years.

Eastbourne was required to deliver 1,199 homes between 2016-2019 but the report says only 460 were delivered – which meant the council fell the 45 per cent with just 38 per cent.

The other seven authorities are Havering, Thanet, Three Rivers, Basildon, North Hertfordshire, New Forest and the City of London.