A council with a 12-year wait for social housing has been slammed for having one of the “worst” records in the country for building new homes.
Stockport built just over half the homes it needs between 2020 to 2023 according to the government’s latest housing delivery test figures.
It should have built 2,991 new homes, but managed a total of 1,613 – the lowest rate in Greater Manchester at 54 percent of what was required.
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The test looks at housebuilding by non-metropolitan districts, metropolitan boroughs, London boroughs and development corporations with plan-making and decision-making powers.
Stockport’s rate puts it among the lowest in the country, with 28 areas performing worse, and 265 areas having performed better.
The borough has faced major housing problems in the last few years, with the council warning of ‘unprecedented’ levels of homelessness last summer.
It also has at least 8,000 households on the social housing register, a figure which could be much higher when counting individuals.
Temporary accommodation costs have also soared, with Stockport set to spend around £1 million funding temporary housing this year.
The Lib Dem-led council is not part of Greater Manchester’s housing scheme – known as Places for Everyone – and does not yet have its own local plan.
Stockport council has plans to build 8,000 new town-centre homes. -Credit:Adam Vaughan / MEN
But pressure to build more homes in the borough is growing after the Labour government brought in new housing targets which say Stockport needs to build around 2,000 new homes a year – double the previously planned amount.
New powers could also be given to Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham to overturn controversial planning decisions made by councils.
Stockport council deputy leader Mark Roberts said the town hall has tried to protect green belt land from development with a ‘brownfield first’ approach, but accused Labour of “taking these decisions away from our community and local people” with recent planning changes.
The council’s local plan is being prepared and an update was shared in December with a call for residents and businesses to help identify sites which could be developed or protected.
Stockport expects to publish its local plan in summer 2026, with adoption set for winter 2027/2028.
The document was postponed a number of times in recent years, most recently in 2024 after the Labour government revealed its plans for new housebuilding targets.
Coun David Meller, leader of Stockport Labour group, said the “damning” housing delivery test figures rank Stockport “among the worst in the entire country” for building new homes.
He added: “The Lib Dems are to blame. For years, they’ve selfishly played politics with planning.
“Under updated planning rules, councils that have not delivered enough housing and can’t demonstrate enough housing land supply through not having a local plan risk having planning decisions taken out of their hands.
“This means developers can bypass local decision making and push through speculative developments, in the wrong areas, that don’t meet the needs of our communities.
“Stockport urgently needs more homes and this is now in black and white, with around 8,000 applications on the waiting list – many of these families – and skyrocketing costs for temporary accommodation, forcing some households to be relocated outside the borough and even outside of Greater Manchester.”
Around 8,000 people are on Stockport’s social housing register. -Credit:Vincent Cole / MEN
Coun Roberts defended Stockport Lib Dem group and accused Labour of using the local plan as a “political football.”
“Stockport would already have a local plan under consultation now had Labour not decided to completely change the planning rules yet again, imposing vastly increased compulsory housing targets which will enable developers to concrete over our precious green belt,” he said.
“The Liberal Democrats tried to implement a true “brownfield-first” approach, releasing previously developed land for housing before using any green belt.
“But Labour have now tied our hands behind our backs and given all of the power to developers, taking these decisions away from our community and local people.
“It is disappointing to see Coun Meller using our local plan once again as a political football when all of the work to date has been done in a cross-party way, seeking consensus wherever possible.”
Stockport council shared plans last year to build 8,000 homes in the town centre in the next 15 years to try and tackle the housing shortages in the borough.
There are also housing developments in the pipeline outside the town, with 200 homes on the way at Mirrlees Fields in Hazel Grove, plans for 500 new homes in Woodford, and 700 properties planned by Boor Homes in Heald Green near the Wilmslow-Handforth bypass.
The Mirrlees Fields decision was initially rejected by the council over the loss of green space, but it was overturned by the Planning Inspector after an appeal.
A separate planning application to build homes on Gately Golf Club was also rejected by the council but went to an inquiry at the end of 2024 after an appeal – with a decision still due.
In these cases, the council’s housebuilding programme and lack of local plan was brought up as arguments for allowing development to go ahead.
Coun Meller said these inquiries are hitting Stockport taxpayers in the pocket.
He added: “We’re seeing hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money squandered on defending planning refusals that are indefensible – money that could, for example, go towards preventing the Lib Dem proposed ‘bin tax’ [proposals to charge for garden waste collections].
“It’s time to get this local plan done, act responsibility as we have consistently advocated over many years, and build the homes we need in a planned and thoughtful way across the borough.”