Play all audios:
Kirklees Council is under even greater pressure to get homes built as it's in a ‘worse position’ than last year when it comes to housing delivery. The council aims to deliver 1,730 new
homes each year from now until 2031. But for the past three years, it has failed the ‘Housing Delivery Test’, delivering less than 75 per cent of the homes needed in the area. In addition,
national policy says that local authorities must have enough land suitable for accommodating five years’ worth of housing growth to meet local needs. For the first time since Kirklees'
Local Plan was adopted in 2019, the figure has dropped below this, with Kirklees having a housing land supply of 3.96 years as of 2023. Both of these factors mean that the council has to
apply the ‘presumption in favour of sustainable development’ when determining planning applications. This means that proposed developments should be given planning permission unless the
negatives “significantly and demonstrably” outweigh the benefits. The council’s predicament was set out at last week’s Strategic Planning Committee meeting, where a council officer explained
that Kirklees is in a “worse position” regarding housing delivery than last summer. Supporting documents reiterated the need to grant planning permission for “acceptable” developments to
deliver “much-needed” housing. Councillor Graham Turner, Cabinet Member for Finance and Regeneration, said: “In light of changes to national planning policy introduced in December 2024, we
are currently reviewing implications for the five-year housing land supply in Kirklees. An updated five-year supply position will be published in the Authority Monitoring Report later in the
year. “Despite the wider pressures affecting housing delivery across the country, we remain committed to enabling high-quality housing to meet the needs of our communities now and into the
future and are updating our Housing Growth Strategy to reflect these priorities. “To boost the housing supply, we are working hard to provide planning decisions for high-quality housing
developments. In addition, our new Local Plan will help to bring forward sites and policies to support housing growth opportunities, as well as play a key role in setting out how we meet
housing needs in a sustainable and coordinated way.” Details of the council’s plan to address the region’s housing shortage was set out last year, with the Local Plan also undergoing a full
overhaul. Aside from the push to approve applications, safeguarded land could be released for housing development, prompting concern among some councillors previously. Though the council has
maintained that it is committed to delivering sustainable, high quality, well-designed developments as part of meeting the housing goals. Kirklees’ planning process has also been
streamlined in a bid to make it more efficient, with council officers given greater responsibility for deciding applications and the number of council planning committees dropped from three
to two. Progress is being made at some of the borough’s most major housing development sites, with Dewsbury Riverside to hold up to 4,000 homes. The first 350 properties are expected to be
completed by 2030. In Huddersfield, the project at Bradley Park Golf Course and adjacent Bradley Villa Farm is gaining traction, set to contain around 2,000 homes once it’s finished.
Attention is currently on the delivery of ‘Phase 1’ of the development which covers around 500 homes. _GET ALL THE LATEST AND BREAKING HUDDERSFIELD NEWS STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX BY_ _SIGNING
UP TO OUR DAILY NEWSLETTER HERE._ GET BREAKING NEWS IN YORKSHIRE STRAIGHT TO YOUR PHONE Get all the latest big and breaking Yorkshire news straight to your mobile via WhatsApp by clicking
here. If you don’t like our community, you can leave any time. We also treat members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. Read our privacy notice here.