Councils are pushing back against Angela Rayner's housebuilding targets, with worries that it could destroy the countryside.
Cotswold District Council has written to Rayner, saying their rural landscape could risk "irreparable harm" if the Deputy Prime Minister goes ahead with her plans.
Labour announced last year that it would build 1.5million new homes by 2029, with local authorities required to plan for 370,000 of these.
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Cotswold council leader Mike Evemy told the Government to "apply common sense" to their "unrealistic" targets.
Angela Rayner pledged to build 1.5million homes last year
| PAThe current proposals would mean each district needs to build 1,036 homes this year - more than double the area's previous plan of 420 per year.
The letter said that the Cotswolds are "revered around the world for their natural beauty" and that 80 per cent of the land is "an absolute non-starter for development".
Evemy pushed the Government to reduce the target, but has not yet received a response.
The Cotswolds join Bath, Arun and East Hampshire pushing back against the targets since Labour came to power in 2024.
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Councils argue that local factors, such as protecting the countryside, have been dismissed.
Bath's letter to Rayner echoed that of the Cotswolds, reading: "The city of Bath is a twice-inscribed UNESCO World Heritage site which covers both the city and its green setting. Development beyond our current plans for an additional 5,000-6,000 homes up to 2029-30 puts this status at risk."
Arun council said the housing policy "continues to punish councils for matters completely outside their control".
The council blamed "the rate at which residential permissions are being built out by the development industry" for missing housing targets.
Cotswold council leader Mike Evemy urged Labour to 'apply common sense'
| GETTYEast Hampshire must build 11,000 homes by 2024, but the requirements "take no account of the fact that 57 per cent of the district is inside the South Downs National Park, an area where development is restricted".
The council noted: "It is the damage done by a blunt instrument - a planning policy that takes no view of unique local factors."
A Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesman said: "We are taking decisive action to fix the housing crisis and all areas of the country must play their part to deliver 1.5million homes.
"Our revised housing targets have been set in line with the needs of local areas, so more homes will be built in the right places alongside the necessary infrastructure, and not at the expense of the environment."
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