TEST Valley Borough Council has responded to the government’s warning that local councils will lose their planning powers if they miss house building targets.

The borough council says it is meeting and exceeding targets with, in 2016/17, the authority delivering 891 new homes, including 215 affordable homes, which was the highest number in Hampshire.

Councillor Nick Adams-King, planning portfolio holder at the borough, said: “Test Valley Borough Council has always taken a strategic approach to allocating housing sites and this has involved making some tough decisions in the past. Although inevitably we have faced some challenges, this forward-thinking planning has meant we have met and exceeded our targets and continue to do so.”

Some residents have questioned housebuilding in the borough, saying quantity is prioritised over quality.

Adam Buckenham, deputy chair of the Picket Twenty Community Forum said: “I can safely say that at least 80 per cent of housing at Picket Twenty has a fault of some description.

“Test Valley Borough Council are more than happy to agree with what the developers want as long as the developers can throw up housing fast.

“Councils have to hold developers accountable for their work and timetables. They have to remember who their paymasters are, the residents and the public.

“It’s people’s lives they are playing with, not a paper exercise.

“It’s frustrating, developers have been allowed to put councils over a barrel.”

As outlined in the Andover Community Plan, the borough council target for affordable homes per annum is 200 properties. However the council’s housing register showed that 2,480 households were in housing need.

According to housing charity Shelter, the number of private renters in the Test Valley has increased by 45 per cent since 2011, with 6,128 households privately renting.

Cllr Adams-King added: “We will continue to work hard to deliver new homes in line with government guidance, working with our local communities in doing so to meeting their housing needs while also protecting our countryside.”