Housing targets for South-East 'will create ghettos'

PLANS to mix social housing with private homes across the South-East are doomed, the Government was warned today.

The slump in new private sector homes could lead to developments made up almost entirely of housing association and other "affordable" properties, planners warned. They said ministers risked creating "ghettos" of social housing under plans to build more than 660,000 homes in the South-East.

The South East England Regional Assembly has raised its fears with the Commons all-party communities committee, which is investigating the impact of the credit crunch on housing.

Ministers are demanding 662,500 new homes be built over the 20 years to 2026, a four per cent increase on the proposals from independent inspectors. But the regional planners said it was vital to build the right size and type of homes in the right locations. "We wish to create mixed communities without the dominance of a single tenure," they said.

They also warned that the Government, through the Housing Corporation and the Homes and Communities Agency, would place an "over-emphasis on headline numbers".

Shadow housing minister Grant Shapps said: "As the Government's target of building three million homes by 2020 looks like pie in the sky, it must not repeat the mistakes of the Sixties by creating social housing ghettos in a panicked attempt to reverse a failing policy."

The Department for Communities accepted SEERA had raised "important issues". A spokesman added: "Last April we introduced major changes to the planning rules which require councils to provide a mix of housing."

Ministers say the new homes are vital in the South-East to stop future generations facing an acute housing shortage.