New data reveals council fails to deliver on annual council house building targets every year since 2021
New data reveals that West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) has failed to meet its council house building targets each year since its formation in April 2021.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted by this newspaper has provided a detailed breakdown of the number of council homes completed and available for occupancy from April 2021 to the present.
Over the past three years, Northampton Partnership Homes (NPH), West Northants Council’s (WNC) housing arm, has delivered only 226 homes, falling well short of its annual target of 200 council homes.
The council's housing waiting list paints a troubling picture. Currently, there are 3,833 applications for housing, with only 678 considered live. A staggering 2,671 applications are suspended, with 822 of those actively under assessment. This backlog underscores the widening gap between supply and demand for affordable council housing in the area.
In stark contrast, West Northamptonshire Council has approved dozens of private housing developments, resulting in the construction of hundreds of new properties on the outskirts of Northampton.
Annual breakdown of council homes built:
2021/22:
- Five one-bedroom bungalows
- 29 one-bedroom maisonettes
- 24 two-bedroom flats and houses
- Total: 60 homes
2022/23:
- Two one-bedroom bungalows
- Two one-bedroom maisonettes
- 20 two-bedroom flats
- 44 two-bedroom flats for four people
- Seven additional houses
- Total: 75 Homes
2023/24:
- One one-bedroom bungalow
- 22 two-bedroom flats for three people
- 34 two-bedroom flats for four people
- 24 two-bedroom flats
- Five three-bedroom houses
- Three four-bedroom houses
- Total: 91 homes
Cumulative total (April 2021 - March 2024): 226 Homes
WNC and NPH joint statement
A spokesman said: “NPH continues to work with WNC to provide council homes for residents across the area. Recent national challenges have resulted in increasing costs and non-viability of some sites, however development of council homes remains a key priority and we are currently building on a number of sites within Northampton.
“In order to further increase numbers of additional properties in the council stock, WNC has put in place a comprehensive acquisition programme to improve the number of additional properties available. 40 acquisitions were completed in 2023/24 and the target for 2024/25 is a further 65. WNC presented a report to Cabinet last night for the local authority housing fund three, which if agreed, will target an additional 33 properties over two years. In addition, a new West Northamptonshire housing allocations policy was implemented earlier this year to make housing allocation fairer and more consistent across the area. The new policy is based on the level of housing need and extensive resource has been put into processing applications.
“WNC are committed to providing quality council homes in West Northamptonshire and will continue to work both with NPH and other partners to meet housing targets over the coming years.”