The housing targets for Maidstone have been increased again as the government looks for answers to the country's housing crisis.

Under new figures published today, up to 554 homes could be built each year in the borough.

The government says building more affordable homes is the only way to get first-time buyers on to the housing ladder but the move has been greeted with dismay by council chiefs.

For Maidstone, it means an extra 50 homes per year over the targets agreed two years ago in the South East Plan. The targets apply until 2026.

For Tunbridge Wells, the revised target would be 300 homes a year - a 20 per cent increase - and for Tonbridge and Malling, it would stay at 450 homes

.

Cllr Chris Garland (Con), Maidstone council’s leader, said: “I am opposed to any further house building, over and above what has already been agreed. There is a need for more housing, but the government is determined to push through three million extra homes in the South East without investing in the infrastructure. It is not realistic.

“Over the next two to three years, because of the downturn in the housing market, the reality is that they will not achieve their targets.”

But he believes it also vindicates the decision to make Maidstone a “growth point”, under which it accepted higher house building targets in return for government cash injections.

“Other councils will be given higher targets but will receive nothing in return”, he said.

Kent County Council leader Cllr Paul Carter (Con), who became the new chairman of the South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA) this week, warned: “It is unacceptable to increase housing numbers to a level that threatens to be undeliverable – particularly in the current economic climate.

"I thought that growth point status was something Maidstone could just about handle but this increase it totally unacceptable."

Ministers want 33,125 homes to be built per year in the South East, an overall increase of four percent.

Communities Minister Parmjit Dhanda said: “If more homes are not built now for the long term the housing ladder will get even further out of reach leaving the next generation with nowhere to live.”

More than a third of all housing will have to be affordable.