A report has claimed that it would take almost 30 years to clear the housing waiting list backlog in Lichfield and Burntwood if affordable properties carry on being built at the current rate.
The figures came to light as part of a planning application for new homes on land in Kings Bromley.
As part of the submission, an affordable housing statement was drawn up by Tetlow King Planning to help make the case for the development to be given the green light.
It revealed that in the past 13 years, Lichfield District Council has delivered “a woeful” 541 affordable homes, with 1,243 people on the housing waiting list in April 2017.
The company said that such a backlog would take more than 29 years to clear if the local authority continued supplying affordable homes at the current rate.
Cllr Ian Pritchard, Cabinet member for economic growth, environment and development services, admitted the number of appropriate properties being built had been lower than the council had wanted.
“We negotiate with housing developers to ensure new housing developments provide housing opportunities for a wider range of people in line with our locally adopted policies,” he said.
“However, the amount of affordable houses being built in recent years has been lower than we would have wished.
“Many factors feed into this, including a slow down in the number of housing developments being completed following the credit crunch.
“The numbers have, in part, also been affected by viability assessments. These assessments look at the profitability of a housing development, taking into account the cost of land, materials and labour, connecting services to the site and more.
“If an independent district valuer finds that a development will not return a sufficient profit for the development to go ahead, agreed affordable housing numbers can be reduced legally.”
“A really terrible performance”
But Cllr Colin Ball, Labour representative for Curborough, said Cllr Pritchard and his colleagues on the Conservative Cabinet needed to take a tougher line with developers.
“This is a really terrible performance from Lichfield District Council on affordable homes, especially as many of these homes will be on very high Tory government-defined ‘affordable’ rents,” he said.
“What we need across the district is some genuinely affordable social rent homes for families and young people.
“It’s also shocking that Councillor Pritchard is excusing the poor performance by hiding behind viability assessments.
“As anyone who has had any dealings, as I have had over many years, with developers, knows, they will always try to pull the wool over local councils on this. I think that we need to take a much more robust line on this issue with developers.
“I will also be calling for this issue to be added urgently to the agenda of the community, housing and health overview and scrutiny committee. Then, we can ensure a full review of the issues involved and push hard for more genuinely affordable social housing for families and young people across the district.”
