KENT council leaders are hailing a victory in their fight to thwart controversial plans for tens of thousands more homes in the county and other parts of the South East.

Proposals by regional planners to increase house-building above the Government’s own targets have been rejected by almost two to one in a vote by members of the South East England Regional Assembly, SEERA.

Instead, SEERA will now be forced to consult on options that include a target for a lower figure than the Government wants.

The vote came at a meeting of the 111-strong assembly in Woking, Surrey, and represents a setback for regional planners who, from 2006, have the statutory responsibility for drawing up the region’s housing strategy.

They had set out plans for up to 36,000 houses a year to be built in the south east, some 6,000 more than the Government’s own targets, over a 20-year period.

But that has now been dropped. Instead, SEERA’s options will be for either 25,500 homes; 28,000 homes and 32,000 homes.

Every single householder in the region will now be given a chance to have a say in a huge public consultation exercise.

Kent County Council’s Conservative leader Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart led calls for a reduction, saying there was no point “moving more and more people into an already over-crowded south east.”

“Kent already has a ten year landbank of mainly brown land available. We do not need further regional allocations. The SEERA proposals come nowhere near to making the case for an acceleration of housing need.”

"Only two thirds of the proposed increase was for our residents and first-time buyers, which we are keen to help. The rest was apparently for people moving out of London or from elsewhere.

"SEERA's proposals were far too high and it is absolutely right to maintain current levels, which, given the government growth areas of Ashford and Thames Gateway, are already unprecedented," said Sir Sandy.

Cllr Paul Clokie, the Conservative leader of Ashford Council, one of the areas earmarked for extra growth by the Government, said:

“To have talked about 36,000 houses a year was completely impractical. We will have to wait and see what happens in the public consultation and this is not the last piece of the jigsaw. But no-one has been left in any doubt that much more money for infrastructure will be needed.”

SEERA will decide next July what housing figure will be in its plans.