The call made by York councillors stated the powers would help stop homes being lost as the Government aims to build 1.5m houses in the next five years.
City of York Council’s Labour housing spokesperson Cllr Michael Pavlovic said the call for ‘use-it-or-lose-it’ powers came as around 9,000 homes with planning permission remain unbuilt locally.
But Liberal Democrat opposition leader Cllr Nigel Ayre said Government proposals for mandatory house building targets would not work and the reforms threatened to rip up green belt protections.
It follows a consultation with councils, developers and the public on proposals to reform national planning policy which ended on Tuesday, September 24.
The Government is now set to review the responses and it is expected to implement reforms by the end of the year.
Plans to change the planning system were unveiled following Labour’s election victory in July and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said they were designed to tackle a national housing crisis.
The motion passed by councillors on Thursday, September 19 calls for the reforms to include powers for local authorities to control second homes and short-term lets such as holiday accommodation.
RECOMMENDED READING
- York council may be forced to build hundreds more homes
- Third of York homes have no green space access, says Defra
- York's local plan may need to be amended as soon as it's adopted
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