BUILDING work on almost 4,000 homes which have planning permission in the Ribble Valley has yet to be started according to new figures.

The latest Housing Land Availability Survey has revealed that 3,708 properties which have been given full or outline permission have yet to be constructed in the borough.

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The figures, which have been complied by the council, also show that 345 homes were built during the last financial year which is above the recommended 280 per year outlined in the core strategy.

The strategy sets out how many houses should be built and where in the borough from 2008 to 2028.

So far under the strategy 1,080 houses have been built.

The figures, which were collected on March 31, show that 255 homes are currently being built along with 53 conversions.

The survey comes after a plan for 305 homes for Longridge was submitted to the council this month.

Nick Walker, chairman of the Save Whalley Village Action Group, said: “The number of sites that are yet to be started contribute the vast majority of houses that the core strategy recommends to be built in the borough up to 2028.

“The council should take this figure into consideration when looking at further applications as they could end up with more permissions than they can deal with and that’s allowed under the strategy, “Developers are no doubt land banking because they can’t afford to build all of these houses at once.

“They will only do a few hundred at a time which is more manageable for them.

“However it does open them up for accusations of speculatively getting permission for developments.”

A spokesman for the council, in a report to the planning and development committee, said: “The report provides information on the number of dwellings completed, information on sites with planning permission and their development status.

“It enables the council to create a picture of construction trends and activity rates together with base line evidence on the amount of land that is available to be brought forward from which the latest supply position in relation to the current strategic requirement is calculated.”

The council has said that it will continue to monitor the housing land situation.