90,000 homes could be built in Buckinghamshire by 2050, Council leader warns

Space for 90,000 homes may have to be found in Bucks over the next three decades, it has been warned.
CllrTettshed more light on what the changes will mean for BuckinghamshireCllrTettshed more light on what the changes will mean for Buckinghamshire
CllrTettshed more light on what the changes will mean for Buckinghamshire

New planning targets launched by Government are likely to lead to a “massive housing increase” in the county, according to leader of Bucks County Council.

Last month housing secretary Sajid Javid unveiled new rules to tackle the country’s “housing crisis” and warned councils could be stripped of planning powers if too few homes are being built.

On Thursday (April 12) Cllr Tett shed more light on what the changes will mean for Buckinghamshire, stating that 90,000 houses may have to be built in the county by 2050, based on Government targets.

Cllr Tett said: “(Government) are also confirming what are described as a new objectively assessed housing need formula, and that is likely to mean a really massive increase in houses that they require Bucks to build.

“These are effectively top down targets – let’s be frank about it- this is what they are. I think what we need to understand is exactly what these numbers mean for the county.

“They could mean something like 90,000 new houses by 2050 from the first indications that I have seen. That is an enormous challenge for a county the size of Buckinghamshire.”

However, it is still unclear exactly how the estimated housing targets will be implemented in the county, particularly once the current Local Plans for housing in Bucks end in 2033, according to Cllr Tett.

Wycombe District Council’s Local Plan outlines where 10,925 houses will be built by 2033, while Chiltern and South Bucks needs to allocate space for 9,150.

The leader continued: “We are just over half the size of Oxfordshire and Oxfordshire have just agreed to build 95,000 and yet they are looking for Bucks to build potentially 90,000 in something about half the size and where we are severely constrained by Green Belt and AONB.

“So we really need to understand the implications of this I think. It is hard to work out exactly how this will apply certainly beyond the current 2033 period when the existing plans run out. We are trying to extrapolate forward to 2050 at the moment.

“We are estimating that potentially this could be in excess of 90,000 houses in the county by 2050. That’s a massive number.”

Picture: Leader of Bucks County Council, Martin Tett