'Urgent clarification' is being sought by the Isle of Wight Council over new government housing targets, which could see the number of new homes built on the Island more than double and seven years of planning, wasted.

Last week, government announced councils in England would be given mandatory targets as it seeks to construct 370,000 new homes each year.

Under revised plans, the Island would have a target of 1,104 homes — 651 more than the council's preferred number.

After seven years of setbacks and delays, the local authority finally agreed a new Island Planning Strategy (IPS) in May.

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Balancing social, economic and environmental issues, the plan seeks to build 453 homes per year until 2037.

But the General Election meant the plans could not be submitted to the Secretary of State at the time.

Now, following publication of the government's new figures, there are fears the number of new homes built here could increase dramatically.

Council leader, Cllr Phil Jordan, said this "could have been avoided", had plans been approved earlier.

"I do hope I can make a strong case for the lower housing number and our current Island Plan to be accepted by government", he said.

"I would add that I am disappointed that certain members of the council have worked to prevent our Island plan from being submitted over the past three years and we now can see the outcome of those actions."

Cllr Jordan said he is writing to the minister to see if the IPS can still be submitted and to express concerns over the 'standard method 'approach. 

He said: "We believe we have fully evidenced the housing numbers in our Plan and that the timeframes and the costs involved, some seven years of work and around £150,000 of costs, are sufficient for the Plan to be submitted."

"I am also writing to express our concerns and pressures over the Island skills and capacity for house building which cannot be solved overnight and will require substantial training and investment into building a sustainable Island trades provision that is needed to deliver the number of houses in our Plan, let alone any increased number."

Before the IPS was presented, the Island would have seen 703 homes built per year.

According to government figures, on average 499 homes have been built on the Island each year, from 2020/21 to 2022/23.