An Oxford campaign group has criticised the government's new housing targets, saying more should be invested into public housing. 

POETS (Planning Oxfordshire’s Environment and Transport Sustainably) is a group of senior planning, environment and transport professionals and academics focussed primarily on planning and transport in Oxfordshire.

They have warned the Labour government over its overhaul of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which has set a target of building 300,000 homes a year across the country. 

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Angela Rayner, deputy prime minister, unveiled an overhaul of England's planning rules to help deliver Labour's promise of 1.5m new homes by 2029 a few months ago. 

Ms Rayner said: "Our decisive reforms to the planning system correct the errors of the past and set us on our way to tackling the housing crisis, delivering 1.5 million homes for those who really need them.

Angela Rayner (Image: Contributed) "And something I am personally proud of, our new flexibilities for councils will boost the number of social and affordable homes, and give working families a better route to a secure home."

In Oxfordshire, each district has seen significant increases. In Oxford city, the target has been set at 1,051 new homes annually – up from the current target of 762 homes a year.

For South Oxfordshire, the proposed target has been set at 1,179 new homes annually – up from the current target of 579 homes a year.

For West Oxfordshire it is 889 new homes annually – up from the current target of 549 homes a year.

And the proposed target for Cherwell has been set at 1,095 new homes annually – up from the current target of 706 homes a year.

POETS’ Katie Barrett said: “The only times when that figure has been reached since 1950 have been when roughly half of the houses were being built by the public sector.

“Investing in public housing could result in net savings to the taxpayer. Not only would billions of pounds currently spent on housing benefit be recouped, but there would be massive savings to the NHS. Poor housing is a major cause of ill health.”

Chris Cousins, another member of POETS, pointed out that other countries do things differently. “By capturing more of the uplift in land values for public investment they are able to create both higher quality, more affordable housing and better places to live,” he said. 

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He added that it was an issue the Government had to grasp if it was to have any hope of meeting housing need.

“Recent studies and reports - from MPs of all parties, to Shelter and the Town and Country Planning Association – agree that it’s a major obstacle to providing decent housing," he said. 

"And Winston Churchill railed against what he termed ‘the unearned increment’ over a hundred years ago”