11,000 new homes needed in Lancaster area?

A new report commissioned for Lancaster City Council suggests that between now and 2031, 650-700 homes will be needed annually to meet the needs of an increasing population and growing economy. The council said new sites for housing would be needed.

Coun Janice Hanson, cabinet member with responsibility for planning, said: “The decision on how many homes need to be built between now and 2031 is tremendously important and will have a huge effect not only on our current population but future generations as well.

“The public need to have confidence in the council’s housing policies and, over the coming weeks and months, we’ll be carefully scrutinising these estimates and the methodology behind them, but we also need to make sure we are acting on the available evidence and not emotionally.

“We have to ensure the final housing target is based on evidence so it can stand up to challenge not just from the public but also other interested parties including developers and the government.

“The government has said that if councils do not make progress on their Local Plans it will make the decisions for them, which would overrule any local views and accountability.”

The ways in which a local supply of land for housing is calculated will also be considered by the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee in October.

Additionally, the national Planning Advisory Service is also being invited to look at the how the local supply of land for housing is calculated and review the method and findings of the new report on future housing needs.

Following this the council’s local plan will go out to public consultation on the options available for where in the district new homes could be built in the future.