Local authorities may be underestimating housing need by up to 30 per cent due to an over reliance on government data, planners have warned in a report in Inside Housing today:
The Royal Town Planning Institute, which represents professional planners in the UK, commissioned research examining household projection figures from the Communities and Local Government department. It found the figures, which form the basis for calculations in local plans, poorly reflect the likely need in some cases.
The RTPI in a report called Planning for housing in England is calling for local authorities to take into account ‘robust local evidence’ in order to avoid underestimating need.
It is calling for the government to provide ‘sensitivity analysis’ at a local level, based on data from births, deaths and movement in and out of the area, to help councils develop better plans.
Cath Ranson, president of the RTPI, said: ‘The research emphasises the need for local councils to treat Government household projections as a starting point, not an end point when calculating how much housing they need to plan for in their area.
‘A rigid adherence to household projection figures may lead to too few houses being built in some areas and an oversupply in others.’