The number of new homes planned in Three Rivers is set to be slashed after district councillors agreed a "lower growth" option for the draft Local Plan.

Originally, the government had set a target of around 11,500 homes to be built in the district by 2041, but the draft plan cuts this to around 4,850.

It means that the only sites considered acceptable for residential development will be brownfield sites and sites that would lead to moderate or less harm to the Green Belt.

But it comes at a time when the new prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, has pledged to "get Britain building" and Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has said that the government will reintroduce mandatory housing targets.

Labour have said 1.5 million homes will be built over the next five years, which they hope will lead to higher economic growth.

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However, the "lower growth" option for Three Rivers received support from more than 90 per cent of respondents to a recent public consultation. It was then approved by the council's Local Plan Sub Committee at their meeting on Tuesday, July 16.

A Local Plan is the key planning document which describes and guides how and where new housing and other infrastructure can be delivered in the district.

Cllr Stephen Giles Medhurst, leader of Three Rivers District Council, said: “This decision is another step towards not only providing the right type of housing and affordable homes needed for residents and future generations, but also to protecting a large portion of our valuable Green Belt.

"We have also moved to ensure that the village of Bedmond will continue to be considered part of the Green Belt, and therefore protected from inappropriate development.”

Policy Exchange, a think tank, say that the "crisis of housing affordability" is mainly driven by "a chronic undersupply of new housing". According to a report from Heriot-Watt University, around 340,000 new homes need to be supplied in England per year to end the housing shortage.

Councillors have agreed to complete the Local Plan process by February 2025, subject to any government announcements. Residents will get a final say before the plan is submitted to a government-appointed inspectorate to see if the council’s plan is ‘sound’.