The statement below was issued following Damian's Westminster Hall debate on rural housing targets on 29th January 2025:
The government must rethink its formula for housing targets, according to Damian Hinds, MP for East Hampshire. Opening the Westminster Hall debate on housing targets in rural areas, which he secured this week, Damian argued that the new formula places undue emphasis on building in the countryside.
Figures from the Parliamentary Library reveal that rural areas have, on average, seen their housing targets increase by 71% under the new government’s formula. This contrasts with an average increase of just 16% in urban areas, with actual reductions in some places such as Birmingham and parts of London. The increase in East Hampshire’s target is even higher than the rural average.
Damian commented: “We all agree that we need more homes to be built, and that includes here in East Hampshire - home ownership is out of reach for far too many locally. But this new formula has resulted in an extreme swing towards building in areas like ours, and in a way that actually may not much help would-be first-time buyers.”
In the debate he stressed that what we really need in East Hampshire is more lower-priced homes, some for rent but also more-affordable open market homes. “The formula doesn’t do this sufficiently”, he said.
Damian also highlighted the effect of the almost-unique circumstances of East Hampshire with a large part inside, and a large part outside, the South Downs National Park. With 73% of East Hampshire’s population, the part outside the Park has had about 85% of the area’s recent housing development. An indirect effect of the new much higher housing targets would be to increase that disparity.
The MP told the Housing Minister that his ‘primary ask’ was a rethink on the overall formula, such that the housing target for East Hampshire as a whole comes down - but he also asked again for a review of how National Park boundaries are treated.
Damian and others in the debate also stressed that housebuilding must be accompanied by the necessary infrastructure – whether that’s school places, GP surgeries, public transport, or essential services like sewerage. “Although these are largely statutory requirements, there is worry”, the MP said, “about timeliness.”
Damian added: “It is also important to pay attention to maintaining the character of areas. … In addition to a beautiful landscape, the constituency has an important cultural heritage, as the home of Jane Austen. That is important not only to people who live in East Hampshire but to many who visit from elsewhere in the country and from abroad.”
Responding, the Housing Minister said he had found it a thoughtful and well-informed debate, that the MP’s arguments had been forcefully put, but that he took issue with a number of them. He reiterated the government’s commitment to building 1.5m homes. He did though say he would “reflect on the concerns” about the clarity of some of the guidance issued.
Afterwards, Damian Hinds said: “I will continue to press for the formula to be changed to be more reasonable and realistic for rural areas like East Hampshire.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
The Westminister Hall debate from 29th January 2025 can be viewed here: Parliamentlive.tv - Westminster Hall
The transcript can be found here: Rural Housing Targets - Hansard - UK Parliament
