MORE than 1,700 new homes will have to be built on the Wirral every year according to new proposed housing targets from the government This is an increase of 1,000 more homes than previously planned.

The new Labour government published earlier this week new housing targets for councils across the country as well as proposed new housing policy as part of its manifesto pledges to deliver 1.5m more homes. Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said the government’s reforms would “correct the errors of the past and set us on our way to tackling the housing crisis.”

As part of this, the government brought back mandatory housing targets that were scrapped by the previous government but with increased numbers. This used old data on delivery as well as the size of existing communities and “adding an extra level of ambition in the most unaffordable areas.”

For Wirral, the government now says it needs to build 1,755 homes a year, 1,027 more than previously planned with one of the biggest increases in the country. The government said the first port of call for development should be on brownfield land with greater density in towns but “councils will have to review their green belt land if needed to meet their own target, identifying and prioritising ‘grey belt’ land.”

There are currently 5,691 people on the waiting list for new housing in Wirral and house building on the Wirral has slowed since the pandemic according to government data. House prices for first-time buyers have increased by a third in the borough since 2019.

Previously Wirral was told it needed to build 728 homes a year but between 2020 and 2023, it averaged 658 homes according to the government.

The new government announcement could lead to an immediate review of Wirral Council’s draft Local Plan which was in its final stages of development following lengthy hearings in 2023. This set out building 14,000 new homes by 2040 but crucially the local authority argued this could all be met through regeneration on brownfield sites with no development needed on the green belt.

In January, inspectors said the plan could start by delivering 500 homes a year for the first five years of the plan, 840 a year from years 6 to 10, and then 1,000 homes from year 11 onwards. A housing trajectory published by the council as part of the examination process said the maximum number of homes it planned to build in a single year was around 1,200 in 2030.

However the new government policy as it currently stands suggests Wirral’s Local Plan could now be heading for an immediate review. The draft government policy said for plans under examination where there is a gap of more than 200 homes a year, “the local planning authority will be required to begin preparation of a plan under the new system as soon as possible or in line with any subsequent arrangements set out to manage the roll-out of the new system.”

The government has also written to the Planning Inspectorate, which oversees Local Plan, to speed up examinations which have more than doubled in length. Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook said: “Pragmatism should be used only where it is likely a plan is capable of being found sound with limited additional work to address soundness issues.”

This has been welcomed by the Planning Inspectorate who said it would still help local authorities sort out problems but “it is inescapable that this fresh approach will lead to an increase in local plans being recommended for withdrawal from examination or being found unsound.”

The draft Local Plan is currently undergoing some changes following comments by inspectors earlier this year including an early review but if it is thrown out, Wirral Council will need to go back to the drawing board once again. This could see a review of green belt boundaries if the government sticks to its 1,755 homes target for the borough.

The government also wants to update its policy about stepping in where councils fail to deliver new homes calling for “future intervention action to be swift and proportionate” and “justified by the local circumstances.” In 2019, the then-Conservative government threatened to intervene over Wirral’s failure to deliver a Local Plan.

Concerns have recently been raised by opposition parties around the delivery of regeneration as well as green belt development with the Conservatives now calling for an emergency meeting. Wirral’s Labour council leader, Cllr Paul Stuart, as well as its Chief Executive Paul Satoor have also both written to the new government in July about the plan calling on the government to support it.

In a letter sent to all Wirral MPs on July 13, Cllr Stuart said the plan has “entire cross-party political support and is supported by our local communities” and hoped to see it “complete by the end of the year.” While he welcomed the government’s intention to boost housebuilding, he said there was concern this could lead to the plan being dropped or needing more work.

He added: “We would love to be in the position of Wirral having the first local plan adopted under the new Labour Government. It can be held up as a shining example of what can be achieved with a pro- growth, brownfield-only strategy that will unashamedly tackle social inequality and provide much-needed homes, jobs, and infrastructure for local people.”

Following the government announcement on July 30, Cllr Stuart said they were carefully considering the new policies including the new housing targets, adding: “At this point Wirral is now very close to the end of the Local Plan process. We are still fully committed to this plan and we intend to move forward towards adoption of our Local Plan as formulated so far.”

However, opposition leader Conservative Cllr Jeff Green said the government’s new figures were “so ludicrous” with 35,100 homes built by 2044. He called for an emergency meeting before the end of September to “secure a united, all-Party response to these outrageous targets.”

He added: “I cannot see how Wirral can accommodate Labour’s new housing targets without using up swathes of our green belt. The Government’s decision is a massive kick in the teeth for everyone in Wirral who has campaigned and worked to defend our green belt.

“Some of the Borough’s new MPs made pledges last month to protect the green belt. We will now be expecting words to be turned into action. No ifs, no buts. Destroying our green belt is not the change people voted for.”

Similar concerns have been raised by Liberal Democrat councillor Stuart Kelly who chairs the local authority’s planning committee. He said: “The idea that we can jump from 728 to 1755 houses a year is astonishing. This is a huge rise and I’ve asked Council officers to look at this urgently.”

He added: “If these numbers stand they clearly can’t be met quickly on the existing brownfield land identified within the local plan, our fear is a review of green belt boundaries will be mandated by government – something we had looked to avoid as we prioritised regeneration.”

Cllr Pat Cleary, co-leader of Wirral’s 14 Green councillors said the new targets were “a massive threat to Wirral’s green belt,” adding: “Where is the plan to accelerate the clean up of brownfield land for residential housing development? Instead, we in Wirral will likely get expensive houses on greenbelt sites if these plans are pushed through.

“Planning reform is a distraction from Labour’s failure to step up and fund the real answers to the housing crisis. These must include large-scale investment in truly affordable, sustainable social and council housing and rapid regeneration of brownfield sites.”