Burney bucking the trend and exceeding targets in house building

New houses are going up at a rate of knots in Burnley

A wave of new homes have been going up around the borough in recent years, with more planned in coming years.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government jointly set out annual housing targets with local authorities up to 2026 and published these in September 2017.

Councils have for years been prevented from building new housing stock themselves, leaving them at the mercy of developers whose building can be hampered by economic and planning constraints.

However, the Prime Minister announced at the Conservative Party Conference that the borrowing cap would be lifted to encourage local authorities to commission new developments.

Many local authorities around the country are years behind their targets with Southend-on-Sea the worst performing, being 33 and a half years behind.

Burnley, though, is bucking the trend, according to the research carried out by Project Etopia, putting it third in the country behind Preston and Scarborough.

Out of a housing target of 70 new houses a year between 2016 and 2026, Burnley is currently achieving 120.4.Coun. Asif Raja, Burnley Council’s executive member for economy and growth, said: “We are planning positively for housing growth and working with partners to deliver a wide range of housing to support the borough’s future prosperity.“The recently adopted Local Plan sets an ambitious target of 194 new houses per year to support continued economic growth.“The target has been exceeded over the last three years with 335 new homes being delivered in 17/18 alone.“There is a strong ‘pipeline’ of good quality planning permissions and the recently adopted Local Plan will give the industry confidence to invest in housing sites across the borough.”