Cheltenham faces significant challenges as it aims to build 16,420 new homes over the next two decades—a target many local officials are calling “totally unrealistic.” The borough council is collaborating closely with Tewkesbury Borough Council and Gloucester City Council to develop a strategic local plan covering all three areas, which includes plans for over 43,000 new homes and potential new town developments across Gloucestershire.
While the partnership between the councils is progressing well, Cheltenham’s leader, Rowena Hay, has openly criticized the Government’s housing targets. “The headline housing numbers that the Government has set are just unrealistic,” Hay said. “What we need is a constructive conversation about how we genuinely tackle our housing needs.”
She emphasized that Cheltenham is not opposed to new housing, but believes decisions about the number and location of homes should be determined locally rather than imposed from central government. “It’s not that we don’t want to build houses, because we do. But the number, quantity, and placement should be locally decided, rather than dictated — because the current targets are totally unrealistic,” Hay added.
The council is already struggling to meet its current targets, particularly with the latest revised figures.
Liberal Democrat MP Max Wilkinson echoed these concerns, highlighting the borough’s geographic constraints. “Cheltenham cannot deliver its housing targets because the borough is built up to its boundaries,” he explained. However, Wilkinson sees the new local plan as a vital chance to promote sustainable development and urban regeneration, particularly focusing on revitalizing the town center.
“I applaud the local council for prioritizing this,” Wilkinson said, “and we should question claims that expanding onto the outskirts is the only viable solution.” He pointed out that previous strategic housing developments on Cheltenham’s edges have proceeded slowly. “Whatever happens, the town center needs more attention,” he stressed.
On a national level, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government acknowledges a severe housing crisis and insists that all regions contribute to the government’s ambitious plan to build 1.5 million homes across the country in an effort to revive the dream of homeownership.