The government is falling short on more than half of the targets for housing and planning imposed by the previous administration, show official documents published today.

The annual reports for 2009-10, published by the Department for Communities and Local Government, show that the UK is failing to hit its annual housing supply target to build 240,000 new homes by 2016, and that the UK’s supply of  housing development sites is “at risk”.

They also show that local authorities are failing to cut the total number of planning applications that are subject to appeal, a task required of them under the Labour government’s centrally-imposed targets. In addition, the amount of green belt land in the UK is falling.

In a statement today, communities secretary Eric Pickles slammed the previous government’s system of more centralised spending and targets.

He said: “Complex, ever shifting targets and paper chasing hasn’t built homes or created a fairer planning system. For too long those tasked with working for the public have been tied up by red tape that has stifled innovation in favour of indicators.

“We are moving away from bureaucratic accountability to democratic accountability. We are doing away with endless tick boxing. We want civil servants to spend less time form filling and more time just getting on with the job.

“Fifty something targets and objectives have been replaced by a clear and simple plan. We have set out what this Department is all about and what it is going to do and we will be accountable for delivering that to the people, not the Government machine.”

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