A record number of new homes were built in Bath and North East Somerset during the past year.
A total of 809 new homes were built in the 2015/16 financial year, representing the highest number since Bath & North East Somerset Council was created in 1996, and significantly higher than the long-term average over the last 20 years of around 450 per year.
Taking action to deliver new homes and job is one of the Council’s six corporate priorities, and the record number of homes completed in the past year demonstrates that the Council is delivering upon its Core Strategy development plan, which has set targets for delivering 13,000 new homes, including 3,290 affordable units, between April 2011 and March 2029.
Of the 809 new homes built in the past year 70% were on previously developed land, and the Council has achieved its target of delivering 30-40% affordable housing provision in 92% of eligible planning applications that were approved in 2015/16.
Councillor Tim Warren (Conservative, Mendip), Leader of Bath & North East Somerset Council, said: “One of our top priorities as a Council and administration is to deliver more local homes to both buy and rent – and the record number of new homes completed in the past year demonstrates the progress we are making in delivering on this commitment. By building more new homes, particularly on brownfield sites, we can help more local people get onto the housing ladder and own a home of their own, whilst at the same ensuring we also have the right mix of social and rented accommodation to meet our area’s needs. To support this further, we have also earmarked more than £3.2 million in the Council’s budget to support the delivery of new affordable housing projects throughout the district in the coming years.”
Councillor Liz Richardson (Conservative, Chew Valley North), Cabinet Member for Homes & Planning, added: “Housing demand is extremely high within the district so I am delighted that the number of homes built in the past year is the highest since B&NES was created over twenty years ago. These figures show that we are working hard to ensure that sufficient land is made available to meet our housing needs, with nearly 70% of the homes completed in 2015/16 built on previously developed land. We still have a long way to go, but we are determined to ensure that our housing provision enables people to live and prosper in Bath and North East Somerset.”
There are 441 new affordable homes that will become available to rent or buy between now and 2020 on 16 housing developments that are currently underway across the district, and this number will be added to as new housing developments come forward. For full details of this affordable housing delivery please visit: http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/affordablehousing.
