NOT everyone thinks the housing growth figures for the south of the county, or even for south east England, are right.

Some business people say the local figures will not meet the housing need of a growing workforce and of business. Bob Newell, chairman, of Bucks Economic Partnership, said: "These housing figures are nothing to do with the technical requirements of the region and what is necessary for its prosperity, or to deal with the backlog of people who need affordable homes. It's more to do with the least we can get away with'."

Mr Newell, a planning and economic development consultant, said the view of the private and voluntary sector members of BEP was that councils had to stop playing politics with people's lives.

He said there had to be a correlation between homes and jobs. "You can't have thousands of people living in cheaper homes in Aylesbury going to well-paid jobs in Wycombe. We have to try to reduce commuting and we can't do that unless we build houses. Local authorities in Chilterns, South Bucks and Wycombe have got away for decades with having other people meet their housing needs."