Greater control to be handed to Horsham district to set its own housing target

Nothing has been more contentious in the Horsham district over many years than the vast swathes of additional housing that has been imposed on green fields - creating major concerns in particular North of Horsham and at Southwater.

Now the government has said that in future, centrally-dictated targets are "advisory" instead of mandatory. The new rules will mean that town halls will be allowed to build fewer homes if they can show that hitting the targets would significantly change the character of an area.

Leader of Horsham District Council Cllr Jonathan Chowen said: "As a council we welcome the Government’s new approach to the vexed question of unacceptable large housing targets for our District.

"It is especially important that the statement mentions the importance of local decision making, having a Local Plan and support for Local Neighbourhood Plans.

"We particularly welcome the opportunity to reduce housing numbers in our current plan to those that are sustainable in our water stressed area, and the Government’s confirmation that once we have agreed the next stage in our Local Plan, we will have far greater ability to defend ourselves from speculative development.

"We are a thriving, successful District and do need some new homes for social and economic reasons and to keep us as a vibrant community. But the decision should, as the statement says, be based on local needs, the environment and decided locally".

Given the critical stage in plan making reached by Horsham District Council, it has been decided to delay the Cabinet meeting programmed for 15 December to consider the Local Plan in order to ensure that the Ministerial Statement and any implications it may have can be given due consideration.

More details on a revised Cabinet meeting date will be provided in due course.

Campaigners have reacted to the announcement.

Roger Smith, from the Campaign to Protect Rural England’ Sussex branch, asked: “Will the Government now cancel its hocus pocus 'Standard Method' for determining housing 'need', which imposes arbitrary housing targets on communities, regardless of resultant environmental harm? In light of Mr Gove's announcement, will Horsham District Council reassess and reduce its local plan housing target, and site allocations, as indeed it should? Will other councils across Sussex do likewise?

“Will the requirement for Horsham, Mid Sussex, Arun and Wealden to accommodate, in addition to their own housing needs, housing deemed to be beyond the capacity of Adur, Brighton and Hove, Chichester, Crawley and Worthing? Will HDC refuse Berkeley Homes' application (DC/22/1916) to build 1500 dwellings on farmland 'north west' of Southwater?”

Residents of Adversane and the surrounding area have welcomed Michael Gove’s letter to MPs on Monday, in which he says that the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill would be amended to abolish mandatory housebuilding targets.

Julian Trumper, Chairman of campaign group BigStand, said: “The top-down requirement from central government to build a specified number of houses in Horsham District, based on historical data rather than the needs and wishes of the local community, has been at the heart of the deeply held concerns of local residents over excessive house building numbers.

“This announcement from Michael Gove means that Horsham District Council can concentrate on providing the right numbers of houses for the district, in the right places, and not be held to ransom by property developers. We believe that this announcement will help to protect the local environment and will help preserve what remains of the rural feel of our district.”

A spokesperson from the group Save West of Ifield added: “We’re very pleased that there could start to be a shift away from developer-led planning towards communities having more of a voice. Plus of course more emphasis on brownfield first, and genuinely affordable housing. But we won’t celebrate anything until we see the detailed proposals!

“The changes that matter most in Horsham and Crawley districts are around target-setting - making it easier for councils to challenge and adjust the targets, and dropping the five-year land supply requirements which have made it easier for speculative planning applications. Horsham District Council must delay its Local Plan process and make the case for much lower targets.

“Horsham is suffering badly from the ‘vicious circle’ of target-setting – very high building rates since 2015 are driving even higher future targets, which are then pumped-up another 60% by the ‘affordability adjustment’. Using 2021 Census data the target would be over 1,200 new houses a year! And with at least 80% of Horsham’s new houses being occupied by people from outside the district, we’re now facing unsustainable population increase.

“The government has opened the door for change. We want to see our MPs and local authorities pushing for new policy that delivers real benefits. Let’s see a positive shift away from too many greenfield sites like West of Ifield being sacrificed for easy profit, and towards the social housing and infrastructure needed by local communities.”

The proposed changes to the planning system were also welcomed by the area’s two MPs.

South Downs MP Andrew Griffith said: “This is the news that West Sussex has long waited for. Giving local communities the power to tackle the blight of overdevelopment is a positive step forward. Since very first being elected I have always made clear my opposition to top-down housing targets leading to unsustainable development on green field sites. This new flexibility in our planning reforms will help protect our precious environment and countryside whilst prioritising brownfield land developments.”

Meanwhile Horsham MP Jeremy Quin said: “I am delighted by this announcement which will help ensure proportionate development and improves the balance between elected local Councils and the Planning Inspectorate. We are determined to drive development on brownfield sites and through regenerating our Cities while helping ensure decision making on housing growth better reflects local factors. We will also ensure that when Councils deliver local plans these are respected for the whole plan period.”

Mr Quin explained that the Bill will clarify areas of housing policy which are important to our local area:

1. Local Housing numbers will be a target to which Councils can then make appropriate adjustments to reflect local conditions and demand - this could for a District for example include the impact of a national park, water shortage or flood plains.

2. The Planning Inspectorate will be instructed to recognise the ability of Local Councils to make reasonable adjustments to the target number.

3. If a Council has a local plan in place it will no longer be subject to the constant developer demands for a “rolling” five year land supply - if a Council has delivered on its numbers within the plan time frame this will not bring forward a requirement for yet more development.

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