Housing campaigners ouraged as Birmingham City Council plan to slash affordable housing targets

Birmingham City Council is set to abandon its affordable housing target - enabling house builders to make more money on their developments.

The goal for affordable homes is to be dropped from 35% to just 25-20% on industrial land.

Housing campaigners have said this move shows Birmingham City Council are less interested in meeting the needs of citizens and more interested in developers' profits.

Why are Birmingham City Council making this change to affordable housing?

The council say they are changing it for two main reasons:

1. It'll make the target more "honest" to what they are able to achieve.

2. It'll make housing developers more likely to build in Birmingham.

It will only affect brownfield sites where development is most expensive and demand for homes is largest.

Why does this matter?

Birmingham is in a housing crisis.

There are over 20,000 people on the council waiting list for a new home.

Over 16,000 people are in temporary accommodation.

The city has the third highest rate of homelessness in the country.

According to Shelter, 1 in every 71 people in Birmingham are homeless.

The council acknowledge urgent action is needed, and this change is intended to increase more house building.

The plan is also controversial.

Depending on who you speak to, this change is either a practical step to get more homes or the council sacrificing the needs of its citizens to benefit private companies.

How many homes do they deliver now?

The council have asked developers to build 35% affordable homes in all their builds since at least 2001.

But recently they haven't delivered on that target.

On average, over the last five years, they've only managed to deliver 15%.

Over 7% less than the metropolitan average.

Will this plan help the housing crisis?

It depends on who you ask.

House builders are supportive of the plan.

Sam Stafford, Planning Director from the House Builders Federation, told us the plan was practical.

He said, "20% of something is better than 35% of nothing".

Developers make a loss on each affordable home they build.

Under current rules, if they can prove they won't make at least 20% profit on a development, councils allow developers to build less affordable homes.

By having a lower housing target, they are more likely to make a profit, won't need to negotiations to build less and keep to the 20%.

Mr Stafford also argues there is no point in having a target if you never meet it.

His view is that if they are able to develop more, there will be more affordable homes in real terms, even if it is lower as a proportion.

• "Birmingham has been built, not for the people living there, but for private investment firms"

Housing Campaigner and academic at the University of Birmingham Marco Di Nunzio said: "It is not just about how many homes you build but also what type of homes you build'.

He argues that building more homes won't solve the housing crisis if those homes aren't affordable.

He also said the current rules prioritised private investment and profit ahead of Birmingham's citizens: "It is not the Birmingham City Council's job to make sure developers make 15-20% profit margins.

"It is the job of Birmingham City Council to design policy that enables the provision of housing for those in need, and it's failing to do that.

"Birmingham has been built, not for the people living there, but for private investment firms".

It is important to note that the view that lowering housing targets will improve housing delivery is contested.

According to analysis by planning consultancy Litchfields, developments with more than 30% affordable housing are more likely to be built than developments with less.

What will change?

Birmingham City Council have scrapped their old housing targets.

The new scheme is a big departure from their previous housing plan.

The council's last plan, "The Housing Plan 2023-2028", said they would deliver 51,100 homes by 2031, with 19,400 affordable.

That means they planned on 38% of the homes they built being affordable.

But their new plans could change again. The national government has started a consultation on a new National Planning Policy Framework.

At the heart of the government's plans are ambitious affordable housing targets for local authorities.

The government could force the council to demand a larger proportion of homes to be affordable.

How do these plans compare to other cities?

There is a huge variance across other cities in England facing similar issues with housing delivery.

London has set the target of 50% affordable homes on all developments.

Brighton and Hove's target is 40% (on developments above 14 homes).

Leed's target is 38%.

Manchester's target is 33%.

Liverpool's target is 20%.

It seems there is no consensus over the best strategy in our largest cities.

In a statement Birmingham City Council have said:

“The council anticipates delivery of 27,700 dwellings over the next five years, over 17,700 of these are under construction.

“The council is committed to delivering as many affordable homes as possible"

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