Government housing targets unrealistic and unfair, English councils warn

Exclusive: Some authorities say they are being set up to fail' when fault often lies with developers sitting on sites

Councils have raised the alarm over what they describe as unrealistic government targets for new housing, saying these penalise local authorities when the fault often lies with developers sitting on sites that already have planning permission.

Local authorities have also complained that targets under the proposed new national planning policy framework (NPPF) for England are sometimes totally unrealistic, both in terms of what can be built and, in some cases, the amount of homes needed.