Call to relax rules on planning

Protecting the rural idyll is preventing new housing, say campaigners

Housing campaigners are pressing for planning rules to be relaxed as housing waiting lists soar in the South West.

National Housing Federation (NHF) figures show there was an 88% increase in waiting lists in Cornwall and a 64% increase in Devon from 2002 to 2007.

But only two thirds of the social housing the South West needs each year is being built, says the NHF.

It says planners should always rule in favour of social housing if the need has been proved.

They don't want to spoil the rural idyll they have bought into Stuart Ropke, NHF

Stuart Ropke, NHF South West regional manager, told BBC News that the problem of housing provision in the region was made worse by communities unwilling to accept new housing.

He said: "It's very hard to get some communities to accept the need for more housing.

"There is a lot of potential building land in rural areas, but some people see the impact on the value of their homes and they have a particularly jaundiced view of people in affordable housing.

"They don't want to spoil the rural idyll they have bought into."

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There are 157,183 households on housing waiting lists in the region.

The government, in the Regional Spatial Strategy 2006-2026, wants 29,623 new homes a year in the South West.

Of those, 10,000 are earmarked for social housing, but only 60% of those were being built, said the NHF.

The NHF is calling for more government funding and the release of more land for development.

Mr Ropke said: "If the planners are considering affordable housing and there are no over-riding objections the presumption should be in favour."