Coventry city council planned for more than 40,000 new homes after it was forecast that the area’s population would rise by 32 per cent in 20 yearsOfficial population forecasts used to justify building thousands of homes on green belt land around the country have been overstated, a watchdog has found. The Office for Statistics Regulation said that ONS population forecasts used by councils to make plans in areas with high student populations were “inconsistent” with local evidence. SponsoredThe watchdog launched an investigation last year when The Times revealed that Andy Street, mayor of the West Midlands, had complained that “implausible” forecasts were being used to justify building thousands of homes around Coventry on green belt land that once formed the Forest of Arden. The ONS predicted that Coventry’s population would rise by 32 per cent between 2011 and 2031, twice as much as Birmingham, leading Coventry city council to plan for

Source: The Times May 10, 2021 15:56 UTC