DELAYS to the county’s planning blueprints could open the floodgates to “unsuitable” housing developments in Oxfordshire.

Local plans set out where thousands of homes can be built in the years to come.

But a ruling covering North Warwickshire has deemed such plans are only valid if based on up-to- date assessments of housing need.

Now three of the county’s five district councils are having to reasess their plans in light of the planning inspector’s decision as they are based on information from six years ago.

It means the proposed local plans for West Oxfordshire, Cherwell and the Vale of White Horse can’t be agreed yet.

Councillors have warned they will be less able to successfully refuse housing schemes they deem unacceptable in the meantime.

Oxford city and South Oxfordshire have their local plans agreed, so are not affected by the ruling.

Cherwell District Council lead member for planning Michael Gibbard said: “The further we go without a local plan in place the more at risk we are of inappropriate developments being allowed.”

The number of homes any local authority needs is based on a Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA).

A planning inspector decided in April that North Warwickshire’s assessment from 2008 “cannot be said to be up-to-date” and was not adequate to assess the borough’s housing need.

Oxfordshire’s SHMA is a year older than that, so the five councils have to produce a new one between them.

The councils have refused to say how much this will cost, or how much the old one cost without a Freedom of Information request.

The new SHMA will not be completed until October.

West Oxfordshire District Council was hoping to adopt its local plan to build 5,500 houses by 2029 next year, but now it could be delayed by up to a year.

Cabinet member for strategic development Warwick Robinson said: “If we were to submit our plan to the inspector now they could return it as unsuitable on the basis that the evidence is not up to date.

“The way the inspectors were reviewing and interpreting the National Planning Policy Framework six months ago was radically different to what has been happening over the last six months.”

Vale of White Horse District Council is a long way behind other Oxfordshire councils in progressing its local plan for 13,294 houses by 2029.

The council anticipates submitting its final local plan to the planning inspector at the end of the year or early next year.

Council leader Matthew Barber said the district was open to “unsuitable” applications. He said: “Delivery has been low in the Vale, which is used as a benchmark against us in planning appeals.

“That said, we are still refusing applications where appropriate.”

A Planning Inspectorate spokesman warned there was a risk for councils with outdated housing assessments.

He said: “Local plans must be positively prepared, justified,effective and consistent with national policy and the National Planning Policy Framework.

“There are no exact rules about the age of the evidence base but housing evidence that does not take into account the latest population projections is in danger of being dated.”