Rayner homes in on housing need

THERE'S plenty to digest in Angela Rayner's overhaul of the planning system unveiled this week not least a shake-up of local targets that looks like putting a much greater onus on the North to build homes.

- ROB PARSONS

In a bid to hit her target of 1.5 million homes in five years, the Housing Secretary has slashed London's housebuilding target by 20% but massively increased it in many parts of our region.

The so-called 'indicative local housing need' has doubled for the North East and increased by 75.9% in the North West. In Redcar and Cleveland the target has gone up by more than 1,000% (though from a low base).

The change in the way housing need is calculated, says the Government, has been done with the aim of 'rebalancing the national distribution to better reflect the growth ambitions across the North and Midlands.'