New figures from Bromley Council show that fewer than half the homes planned by developers were actually built, even before the current recession.

Between 2003 and 2008 Bromley granted planning permission for building a total of 7,688 new homes.  However only 3,505 were completed during that period, leaving 4,183 homes unbuilt — even though the permission to build them is still valid.

Despite this, Government Planning Inspectors are allowing appeals for more new housing developments on the grounds that Bromley Council is not meeting housing targets set by the Labour Government.  One recent case is the appeal which was allowed for nearly 800 units of housing on the Blue Circle site in Bromley Common, which is located in the Green Belt.

The reality is that Conservative-run Bromley is more than fulfilling its obligation to grant permissions, so that 4850 new housing units can be built in Bromley Borough by 2017.  However house builders are simply not building.

Cllr. Alexa Michael

The issue was raised by Cllr Nicholas Bennett (Conservative, West Wickham Ward) at last week’s meeting of the Full Council.

Announcing the new figures, Cllr Alexa Michael, Chairman of the Development Control Committee, said:

“Inspectors need to be aware that the Council is not a house builder.  If developers then choose not to build for economic or other reasons, Inspectors should not blame the Council for the ‘insufficient’ housing numbers that are currently being constructed. Inspectors should not allow permissions on environmentally sensitive sites in order to meet housing targets, which are arbitrary in any case.”