Councils across central Lancashire have pledged to tackle a shortage of affordable homes.
New plans have been drawn up to cope with the shortfall in the number of affordable homes in Preston, South Ribble and Chorley after research showed 50 per cent more cheap properties need to be build to meet demand.
Under the plans, it has been recommended that 30 per cent of the overall number of homes are affordable. The quota currently stands at 20 per cent.
On ‘rural exception sites’, where housing developments are allowed on greenbelt to meet local housing need, 100 per cent of these could be affordable.
Across Central Lancashire there is a shortfall of 1,779 affordable homes.
397 of these are in Preston, 660 in South Ribble, and 723 in Chorley.
Two bedroom homes are most in demand.
Coun John Swindells, cabinet member for planning and regeneration at Preston Council, said: “The situation is desperate for people trying to get in affordable housing.
“The problem at the moment is no one is building anything.
“We are trying to get housing moving within the city and I know there are some large waiting lists.”
Coun Cliff Hughes, South Ribble Council’s cabinet member for strategic planning and housing, said: “The truth is, South Ribble needs some more affordable housing and the only place we will get that is from developers. The principle is to get our housing stock up to the levels we need.”
Coun Alistair Bradley, leader of Chorley Council, said: “When a lot of social housing was sold off it reduced the numbers quite dramatically and now we are trying to do something about of this ourselves.
“In reality we need a mix of offers for different people.”
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