?A county councillor blasted Monmouthshire County Council’s record on affordable housing, branding it a ‘miserable failure’ which has left local people ‘struggling’. ??Dimitri Batrouni, leader of the Labour group, said figures showing the authority’s failure to meet construction targets amounted to a ‘housing crisis’ in a county with some of the country’s most expensive postcodes.

The attack came as MCC’s record was laid bare, with news the authority’s existing local development plan (LDP) will be canned three years early. The plan, drawn up in 2011, aimed for almost 500 homes to be built each year, instead, 667 homes have been built in the county since 2014.

Of these figures, the proposed 96 ‘affordable’ homes target saw only 127 built in four years.

“There is a housing crisis in Monmouthshire and this council has failed in every conceivable way to deliver the adequate housing for people on modest incomes and people that are struggling,” said Councillor Batrouni. ??Councillor Bob Greenland, deputy leader of the council, said the issues with developers had led to proposed sites being mired, compounded with ‘pressures’ including the now scrapped Severn Bridge tolls, an ageing population, and the county’s problem with younger people leaving.

Councillors also contended that Monmouthshire’s lofty average house price of over £300,000 — swamping the Welsh average of £186,000 — added to the problem which sees many younger people leave the county. ??A full review into the authority’s housing strategy has now been ordered.