BRADFORD Council’s plans for 3,500 new homes to be created in the city centre have been criticised after it emerged almost 2,000 properties have yet to be built, despite planning permission being granted.

The City Centre Area Action plan sets out ambitious targets for the centre of Bradford until 2030, including the construction of thousands of new homes, and the conversion of numerous buildings into apartments.

The plans will also see a new market built on Darley Street and the existing Oastler Market demolished to make was for a development of family homes.

But Councillor Simon Cooke (Cons, Bingley Rural) has questioned the targets, pointing out that numerous city centre developments have failed to materialise in recent years.

Cllr Cooke recently asked Bradford Council how many homes had been granted planning permission in the city centre, but had not yet been built.

In response, Councillor Alex Ross Shaw, executive for regeneration, said between April 2013 and March 2017, 787 homes had been built in the city centre.

The number of unbuilt housing units with planning permission granted stood at 1,945.

After getting the figures, Cllr Cooke questioned why such ambitious targets were being set when existing plans were not coming to fruition. He also pointed out that two bed flats were available in the city centre for around £42,000, raising the question of whether developers would want to build with such low returns.

Cllr Ross Shaw said other plans for the city centre, including the construction of a proposed grade A office block, One City Park, should increase property values in the city centre in the near future.

Cllr Cooke asked the question after hearing that the former British Gas depot on Holdsworth Street, earmarked for around 600 homes in the plan, had been granted planning permission to be turned into a temporary car park, with the council saying the site was unlikely to be developed before 2025.

One of the main targets in the action plan is the “Delivery of 3,500 homes in the city centre, providing a range of housing sizes and tenancies through the allocation of land and land use policies, to ensure city living is available to all residents of Bradford and beyond.

“New homes will be built to the highest viable and feasible design and construction standards and supported with convenience retail and services within and surrounding the city centre.”

Sites earmarked for housing include the “city village” planned for the Oastler Market site, the former gasworks at Thornton Road/Listerhills Road, earmarked for 400 homes, and the Highpoint site on Westgate, which is classed as the possible site for around 80 homes.

Cllr Cook told the Telegraph & Argus: “I’m a bit concerned that the current Council strategy for the city centre seems to be based on significant amounts of housing developments happening, when it seems clear there isn’t the desire to build.

“At the moment you can buy a two bed flat in Gatehouse for £48,000, and that is in a relatively new build. You can’t build a flat for that kind of money. Developers want to make money, and if they don’t think they can they won’t build here, they’ll choose somewhere else.

“The strategy doesn’t seem to be working.

“One of the big strategies is to replace a lot of the top of town with housing, but there is no demand, and no desire to build in the centre from developers. We can cross our fingers and hope the property market will change, but I think it is pretty clear that that won’t be happening for a while. We can’t just sit around and hope the market will get better later on.

“I was there 12 years ago when the council was saying exactly the same thing, but we can’t just hope the housing market improves.”

He said many property owners seemed to be applying for permission to turn their city centre buildings into flats, only for there to then be no demand from developers or buyers for the schemes to progress.

In response to the concerns, Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe said: “It’s not a matter of hoping, it’s about having ambition for the place and the wherewithal to achieve that ambition. We know that in the UK the future vibrancy of our towns and cities depends on having a strong offer on housing and leisure in the city centre.

“The NEC and Bradford Live investment in the Odeon site, the regeneration of St George’s Hall and the Rugby League museum in City Hall will all boost our existing leisure offer.

“We’ve had the Chief Executive of Homes England here in the district looking at our plans for housing and he was really excited by the opportunity we showed him at the top of town. Our economic strategy is called Pioneering, Confident and Connected for a reason.

“We are a pioneering people who will not be deterred from achieving the ambitions people rightly have for the place.”