720,000 new home target sparks row

Fresh controversy over the scale of housebuilding in the South-East broke out today with the publication of new targets.

The region is facing the prospect of 720,000 homes being built over the next 20 years under new proposals.

This would be 130,000 more than current targets, which have already been increased to account for new settlements in the "growth areas" of Ashford, Milton Keynes and the Thames Gateway demanded by John Prescott.

The Deputy Prime Minister wants more homes to be built across the South-East to ease the housing crisis, which has seen prices soaring and thousands of families and key workers unable to get on the property ladder.

Today, the South East England Regional Assembly, the strategic planning body for the area from Milton Keynes to Kent excluding London, will consider proposals to increase the new homes target from 29,500 to 36,000 a year. The assembly believes the extra housebuilding is necessary to maintain economic growth in the region.

But county council leaders, who have seen their strategic planning role taken over by the regional assembly, warned that the proposal was unworkable.

They say studies are needed to assess the environmental impact of the plans. There are also concerns over a lack of government cash to pay for new roads, schools and hospitals.

Keith Mitchell, chairman of the South-East county leaders, said: "It is not too late for Mr Prescott to withdraw his demand that we press on regardless with the half-baked plan to build 720,000 houses in the South-East.

"Then we can work together to build sustainable communities in the South-East, with families who will be able to afford to live there."

A spokesman for the regional assembly said that today's meeting was the first in a long chain of events that would set the development blueprint for the next 20 years. Subject to three months of public consultation and a public inquiry, the new targets would begin from 2006 and run to 2026.