More homes will have to be built over the next few years to meet a “ridiculously high” housing target.

The latest figures show there were 568 homes completed in Haringey during 2018-19 – just over a third of the annual target of 1,502 set by the Mayor of London.

This was “mainly due to the lack of major housing schemes finishing during 2018-19”, according to the council’s latest borough plan performance update.

It means significantly more housing will have to be built to meet a target of providing nearly 20,000 new homes between 2011 and 2026.

The performance report was discussed at a meeting of Haringey’s overview and scrutiny committee on Monday (November 25).

Cllr Ruth Gordon, (Labour, Tottenham Hale), questioned whether the housing target was too high and could be renegotiated.

Cllr Gordon said: “I think this is a bit problematic. It is not in our hands if developers do not complete – there’s not much we can do about it, really.

“Another problem is the more allocations you grant, the danger is the fewer will be completed because there is competition for the workforce. Some developers will hold back if there are several developments taking place in a small geographical space.

“Is there any pushback we have to say – because this comes out of the London Plan – that these targets seem to be ridiculously high?”

Charlotte Pomery, the council’s assistant director of commissioning, said she was not sure about the process of negotiating housing targets between an individual borough and the Greater London Authority.

She said she would respond to Cllr Gordon when she had more information on the subject.

The performance update says 7,848 homes have planning permission, with 4,745 of these now recorded as having started on site as of April 2019.

It adds: “In the medium term the shortfall is likely to be corrected. However, in the context of a challenging housing market, there are concerns relating to the delivery of additional homes over the coming years.”

The figures in the report relate to all types of housing.

Haringey Council also has its own separate target of providing 1,000 council-owned homes for social rent by 2022.