'Building homes is crucial'
Richard Cutcher • Published 30 Jan 2012 15:00
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THE Royal Borough has been attacked by the Home Building Federation (HBF) over figures which show a 72% drop in new builds over five years.
Statistics, gained by the HBF, show that in the Royal Borough 610 new homes were started in 2006/07 compared to 170 in 2010/11.
The federation says the low level of house building means the area is missing out on more than £2.8m a year in government investment and the creation of almost 900 jobs in construction.
Stewart Baseley, executive chairman at HBF, said: "Windsor and Maidenhead is suffering from a serious under supply of housing and lack of affordability. It is crucial that more homes are built, particularly for younger families and first-time buyers."
The average price of a house in the Royal Borough has soared from £180,000 to £323,000 in the last 10 years.
Councillor Christine Bateson, cabinet member for planning, said: "We are hitting our targets for new builds each year.
"A lot of people put in planning applications, but they don't always start building straight away.
"We have a problem here in that 83% of the borough is green belt land. We as a council very much want to protect our green belt."
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