‘Little council can do’ says Ashfield District Council leader as authority misses housing target with worst performance in Nottinghamshire

This is according to two council leaders, who say developers are also sitting on land or not building homes despite planning permission being granted by the councils.

Local authorities calculate their housing targets based on methods set out by the Government and are expected to deliver on the figure or face the risk of financial punishment.

And Government data shows three Nottinghamshire Councils – Ashfield, Gedling and Broxtowe – failed to meet their targets between 2018 and 2021, with Ashfield the worst performing.

The council was required to build 1,257 homes in this three-year period, but the figures reveal just 829 properties were delivered during this time – the worst percentage in Nottinghamshire.

This amounts to roughly two-thirds of the expected figure and comes at a time when the authority is drafting its upcoming local housing plan.

Coun Jason Zadrozny (Ash Ind), council leader, believes a lot of his district’s issues centre around developers ‘rotating’ where they build homes and not developing too much within one area.

He said: “This target means the number of houses built, which isn’t the council and is the developers.

“We’ve got something like 3,500 granted permissions, but developers just haven’t been able to build.

“Developers often like to spread out where they’re building homes, so it’s not all in one area.

“They have looked at other areas outside Ashfield to rotate it around and there’s little the council can do about this.”

The council is currently drafting its local housing document and has come under fire after identifying a large number of green-field sites for development, despite ripping up a previous plan because ‘it wanted to build in the green spaces we hold so dear’.

The document will outline where 8,226 homes can be built between 2020 and 2038, but has led to backlash from residents, particularly in areas like Hucknall, where thousands of homes are proposed.

Coun John Clarke, Gedling Council leader, said a lot of the borough’s difficulties are down to issues with the construction market .

He said: “A lot of it is significantly the result of getting materials, some caused by Brexit, lorry drivers, the pandemic.”