Island MP Reiterates Need To Increased Housing Target As Waiting List Grows

With around 2,400 households on the housing waiting list, “we can’t continue to pretend we don’t need to build more homes”, the Labour MP for Isle of Wight West said.

Richard Quigley’s intervention comes after the Planning Inspectorate turned down County Hall’s proposed 453 new homes per year housing target, which inspectors said cannot be justified under claims of “exceptional circumstances”.

The independent government body gave the council two options: proceed with a short-term version of the Island Planning Strategy (IPS) which includes a higher annual target of 703 homes or withdraw the plan altogether and put forward a new strategy based on Whitehall’s standard method, requiring 1,100 new homes to be built on the Isle of Wight per year.

Mr Quigley said:

“As ever, the devil is in the detail and not the headlines. Whilst the current plan has not been accepted by government inspectors, the increase in planning target of 250 to 703 annually actually translates to an increase of 394 homes over the full term of the Island Plan.

“This equates to around an extra 33 homes a year. This is thanks to the hard work the planners have already put into the existing plan and creating a planning pipeline for the homes desperately needed by Islanders.

“We are all fully aware of the lack of affordable and social homes on the Island; Approximately 2,400 households are on the current housing waiting list. We can’t continue to pretend we don’t need to build more homes.”