Top Sheffield councillor says government housing targets were ‘done on the back of a fag packet’

Councillors, officers and campaigners have all called the target ‘unrealistic’ and one top councillor said they would have to build ‘castles in the sky’ in order to meet them.

The council planned to accommodate around 40,000 new homes up to 2039. But last year the government imposed a 35 percent increase for the largest cities, making Sheffield’s new target more than 53,000 in the same time period.

However, the council said a more accurate estimation is around 1,000 homes per year less than that.

It comes as the council prepares its long-awaited local plan, which will guide where future housing, offices and other developments will go across the city.

Leading councillors were discussing options for the local plan during a recent co-operative executive meeting when they shared some strong words about the housing targets.

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What did councillors say?

Councillor Julie Grocutt, deputy leader of the council, said: “By the government’s own admission, if we build the 53,000 houses, what they want, they are expecting everybody who comes to Sheffield to take a job and to have two houses…which just shows how nonsensical [it is] and the lack of any strategic science that has been put behind the number they have uplifted this city by…

“I just think it’s extremely disappointing that we were so far down a path, we understood the housing numbers, we have done lots of work in research in relation to housing infrastructure and jobs and the expert planning advice we have received just does not tally with what feels like the government has done on the back of a fag packet, frankly.

“They have uplifted our number along with 19 other cities. What’s happened to the rest of the country? Where are their housing numbers and expectations? This is not about levelling up, this is just about overcrowding. It’s really not fair to the people of Sheffield.”

Coun Paul Turpin, co-operative executive member for inclusive economy, jobs and skills, added: “If the council does want us to build an extra 35 per cent I think we are going to have to start building castles in the sky, which appropriately is defined as ‘dreams, hopes, plans which are impossible’. It really sums up the 35 per cent uplift for me.”

Does Sheffield have to meet the housing target?

Council officers said meeting the government’s housing targets would mean building more than 16,000 homes in the current green belt, affecting seven per cent of it.

They warned this would ‘likely cause serious harm to the environment and undermine Sheffield’s reputation as the Outdoor City’.

However they advised it should only be taken as a starting point, not a goal they have to hit.

All councillors will decide on the approach they want to take for the local plan at a full council meeting next week.

The climate change, economy and development transitional committee made an advisory vote on the options earlier this month and all voted for approaches that would mean not hitting the government’s targets.

The council is trying to negotiate with the government to get the targets revised.