Bristol Live readers are unhappy that Bristol is facing increasing pressure to construct 2,986 new homes each year. This equates to over eight homes daily, in line with the Government’s ambitious national housing target. England’s overall annual goal is to build 370,000 homes, with Bristol’s neighbouring authorities South Gloucestershire, North Somerset, and Bath & North East Somerset also shouldering significant targets of 1,702, 1,593, and 1,471 homes per year, respectively.
The city of Bristol has been a focal point for housing development, with its Housing Delivery Test Action Plan (2024) showing that 30,420 homes were built between 2006 and 2023, exceeding local plan targets. Despite this success, Bristol still faces a substantial housing shortfall, and the increased national targets present an unparalleled challenge.
Bristol’s emerging local plan is setting out to achieve a record-breaking annual delivery of 1,925 homes, yet this figure falls short of the expectations set by Whitehall.
A particularly controversial aspect of meeting these housing targets is the potential use of greenbelt land. Housing minister Matthew Pennycook has encouraged local councils to “exhaust all your options,” which includes reassessing greenbelt boundaries to find underperforming “greybelt” land suitable for building.
This approach, however, has sparked controversy, with critics calling it an assault on rural areas. To aid in achieving these goals, the Government has pledged an additional £100 million to local councils and plans to hire 300 more planning officers to expedite the decision-making process. This extra funding can be used to help meet the ambitious housing targets.
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Commenter Fisherman19 says: “Our government seems to think that just by demanding what they want for Christmas Santa will automatically give it to them.”
Junius1 agrees: “The government conjures up these target figures in Whitehall’s ivory towers and have no conception of what is possible on the ground. Even Labour controlled councils are turning against the government over this issue, as councils have been ignored in consultation exercises.”
Cheekychap67 adds: “We need to do something, the previous government was a complete shambles on everything.”
AdvisoryService101 replies: “No different to the previous government,doesn’t look like any of the parties actually understand how the private property market works. The private building companies hold all the strings, they control the market. Look at the affordable 20% rule, just a joke, lucky to get 5%. Also allowing more homes to be built on greenbelt land will cause land prices to skyrocket. Farmers are one group who own a lot of land and will make a mint. No wonder they are making a scene about paying tax, they know.”
Berklicker retorts: “Most greenbelt land is not farmed land; it sits idle and does nothing so it only looks green. If we actually farmed our land we wouldn’t be in the trouble we are. We import more veg than we grow. About 85% of this country is still green. There is plenty here to house everyone. It’s the house owners that fear it because they’re made to feel their property will be devalued when more are built near theirs. Renting property out is where the vast profiteering is going on, not owning a field.”
Jonty2 thinks he has the answer: “There is no housing crisis. Stop giving affordable homes to the workshy and give them to the aged and infirm / less able. Start prioritising the second hand stock which must be reused and exhausted before any brown or green field sites can be used.”
Doudtingthomas agrees: “More homes for the greedy but not the needy.”
Unius1 replies: “I agree with the proposition of bringing empty houses into use. There are over 1 million empty houses in the UK, with something like 90 per cent of them being truly vacant. It hardly makes sense building huge numbers more, with threats to the green belt and overcongestion in cities, while so many remain unoccupied.”
Grockel1 adds: “All green belt land around North Bristol has been outlined for houses without any infrastructure changes. Woodlands Golf course to Hortham Lane and Gaunts Earthcott Lane, Thornbury, Easter Compton are doubling in size yet the only road changes are the bus/cycle lanes on the A38. Yet all the building work in the BCC area is student accommodation.”
6470 points out: “No mention of houses for families, just homes (which means flats) no mention of schools, doctor surgery. dentist etc. This lot doesn’t sound any better than the last government.”
Dbanderson agrees: “None of the buildings Bristol council have built so far are homes. They’re hotels and put a tick in a box.”
How do you feel about the new government targets? Will these houses meet the needs of local families or will they just destroy the greenbelt? Have your say in our comments section.