Housing targets unachievable due to water supply - MP

A Conservative MP is urging the government to rethink housing targets for parts of Kent, saying they are unachievable because of a lack of water supply.

Speaking in the Commons on Tuesday, Tom Tugendhat, representing Tonbridge, said it was "completely irresponsible" for the Government to pursue the housing target set for the district.

According to Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council's (TMBC) local plan, it is required to deliver 19,746 homes by 2042.

South East Water (SEW) said the maximum number of additional homes it could supply in the area between now and 2042 was 6,318.

Tugendhat said on Tuesday there was "simply not enough water for the scale of development" required for the area.

"The Government must urgently and immediately reduce the housing target for Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council," he said.

The MP added this should be applied for other councils in SEW areas, including Sevenoaks District Council.

"It would be completely irresponsible for the Government to proceed with the current housing targets for both councils while this remains unresolved," he said.

Nick Price, SEW's head of water resources, said the company updated its Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP) every five years and would include the latest housing figures in its next plan, due to be published in 2029.

Price said its most recent plan, published in 2024, included housing data from 2023 that was available at the time.

As a consequence, he said, the current plan did not reflect the Government's latest housing requirements for Tonbridge and Malling.

"We are not a statutory consultee in planning applications and therefore the additional properties could increase water demand beyond what we have planned for in our 2024 WRMP," Price said.

He added the company's priorities included reducing leakage, improving water efficiency, and upgrading meters in preparation for smart meter technology.

Miatta Fahnbulleh, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, said: "The lack of water infrastructure is resulting in both blocking our capacity to deliver our homes, but also the water outages that we've seen in west Kent."

Speaking at the Commons on Tuesday, Fahnbulleh added that securing water supplies for the future could be achieved by "management of water demand, reduced leakages, and the creation of new water assets".

"We are working with the water industry and the regulator, to ensure we do achieve those three things," she added.

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