A COUNCIL says the government's new way of calculating how much land is needed for homes is like "playing a completely different sport with a new set of rules."

Braintree Council has written to a government minister over the "confusion and uncertainty" it says has been created by a change to the calculations used to decide how much land is needed for new homes.

The council says the new National Planning Policy Framework method means it is now in the unexpected position of seeing its housing supply jump from 3.9 to 5.8 years.

It says it has not had a five year supply of housing land over the course of the last two years and there are fears the new method will be reviewed by the government once again before the end of this year.

Lynette Bowers-Flint, councillor for planning and housing, has written to Kit Malthouse MP, minister for housing, to highlight the concerns.

Cllr Bowers-Flint said: "The fact that we can demonstrate a five-year housing land supply should be good news because it gives us more power to defend communities from developers who aren’t as single-mindedly focused on sustainability and good growth as we are.

"However I am concerned that statements from the Ministry for Housing, communities and local government are clearly indicating that the government intend to revise it and will be consulting further on these proposals later this year.

"With previous NPPF it felt at times as though the goal posts were being moved by the government.

"With the publication of NPPF2 and the new methodology and household projections, it feels as though we are playing a completely different sport with a new set of rules.

"The housing minister has acknowledged this himself labelling the anomalies created by the new methodology and household projections as crazy."

According to the letter, another review is expected because the new methodology would only achieve 159,000 of the government's 300,000 new homes a year target for England.

In the letter Cllr Bowers-Flint says the government is leaving district councils to pick-up the pieces.

It reads: "As a result of this, the situation that Braintree District Council now finds itself in is totally unsatisfactory.

"Rather than being pleased that the council can now demonstrate a five-year housing land supply, we are concerned that this will be short-lived and could dramatically change once again by Christmas.

"Whilst the government works out what to do, councils like Braintree are now left picking up the pieces and have to explain to residents why, as you stated at the Conservative Party conference, local authorities should not “take their foot off the accelerator”."