A COUNCIL which has been forced to grant planning permission for hundreds of unwanted homes has announced it will now be able to put its foot down.

South Oxfordshire District Council revealed this week that after years of working it can finally demonstrate a five-year supply of land for housing.

Under government planning rules, all local planning authorities must be able to demonstrate this figure or the benefit of the doubt will be given to housing developers.

On Monday, however, South Oxfordshire's official Housing Land Supply Statement for 2017-18 showed a 5.4-year supply, taking into account all the planning permissions it has granted which are yet to be built.

Cabinet member for planning Felix Bloomfield said: "This will help us to fight speculative development on sites which are not the most suitable or preferred, whilst continuing to deliver on housing growth."

See the full statement at southoxon.gov.uk/monitoring