The planned abolition of housebuilding targets could see housing delivery drop to levels not seen since the aftermath of the global financial crisis, according to an analysis carried out by planning consultant Lichfields.

An article written by Lichfields’ senior director Matthew Spry estimates that the number of net additional homes delivered each year is likely to fall to “well below 160k, perhaps down to 140k”, given the effect of removing the pressure on councils to deliver permissions, without replacing it with another “hard” target of some kind.

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