Craven is likely to have to identify more land for house building under the new National Planning Policy Framework.

The district council currently has to provide a rolling five-year supply of sites suitable for the building of new houses, but under new guidelines it could have to provide 20 per cent more – equal to another year’s supply.

Its current housebuilding target is 250 per year, across the whole of Craven but not including land within the Yorkshire Dales National Park, which includes two-thirds of the district.

However, in the future, it will be up to Craven to come up with its own housebuilding figures as part of its own local plan of action, which is currently in the planning stage and is not due to be adopted until after public consultation in 2013.

Sian Watson, the council’s spatial planning manager, told the planning committee that an average of 184 houses a year had been built in recent years, with one year hitting around 290.

She said the current 250 target for Craven, set by the government under the Regional Spatial Strategy, was due to be revoked under new guidelines and it would in future be up to local authorities to set targets – but until that happened, the council would have to provide an up-to-date five-year supply.

Identifying housing sites was a complex and lengthy business, including the tracking down of landowners and sorting out covenants which could restrict development. The council’s current land supply is under three years – two years less than it should be but slightly higher than the national average. Councillors heard it was possible developers would take advantage of a lack of a local plan to successfully win planning permission for large-scale housing developments.

The National Policy Framework, currently in its draft form, is an attempt to make planning easier by combining all national policies into one document.

The Department for Communities and Local Government says although reform is imperative to ensure economic recovery and to kickstart housebuilding – currently at its lowest since 1924 – the new planning framework will not be a green light for development anywhere.

Councils will be offered New Homes Bonus funding if they choose growth, but the Government says this should not be seen as a bribe.