Housing quango's 2020 targets branded 'unrealistic'

An influential quango's call for up to 3.5 million houses to be built by 2020 has been dismissed as unrealistic by local authority leaders.

The National Housing & Planning Advice Unit's (NHPAU) recommendation will be used by ministers to finalise guidance to English regional planning authorities.

The figures represent increases on housing supply figures in current regional places. The NHPAU's maximum recommendation for the south-east, for example, is an average annual net addition of 49,700 new homes — despite a figure of 32,000 having been agreed.

The government originally set a target of three million homes by 2020, a figure the NHPAU regarded as the lowest possible acceptable figure.

Critics said that as well as eroding powers of local planning authorities, the unelected body, set up to ensure a better supply of affordable housing in response to Kate Barker's 2004 review, undermines the democratic process. 

Henry Smith (Con), chairman of South East County Leaders, said: "This is economically illiterate… while thousands of hardworking families are struggling to make ends meet, government advisers recommend a house building programme divorced from reality."

Housing minister Caroline Flint said: "The report makes clear that beyond the current short-term market conditions there is still a long-term housing affordability problem in this country caused in part by the failure of housing supply to keep up with demand.

"However, given the short-term housing market challenges, we will be wanting to engage with regional planning bodies and key stakeholders before agreeing the next steps."

Meanwhile, Richard McCarthy, the Department for Communities & Local Government's director general for housing and planning, insisted the three million target could be hit, despite the credit crunch.