The Local Plan approved 11 months ago gave us the authority and momentum to build 31,000 houses in the next 15 years. It also laid down policies to achieve a number of associated objectives e.g. that at least 20% of the total are affordable and that we would aim to deliver extra care provision throughout the borough. We stated even greater expectations for large sites and on land that we owned including master planning by local councillors and communities. We stated our expectation of delivering 10,000 in the first 5 years of the plan and we sought to provide a significant number of houses using prefabricated manufactured units that would minimise energy usage. The report updates on the strategy to achieve those objectives and on early reports of delivery.
It shows how we have used our own land, worked with voluntary and private sector to speed up delivery using some smaller council owned sites, brought in grants from Homes England and from the City Region Local Growth Fund to ensure viability on the more difficult sites.
The report shows exactly what we have planned for all our major sites and gives us an update on success so far.
The evidence is strong that the momentum of the Plan and the delivery programme of the council are quickly coming to fruition. In December at one meeting of Strategic Planning, approval was given for 600 additional housing units. This plan shows how the Council is bringing its power and influence to bear to ensure those approvals turn into deliveries and to ensure our other social ambitions are realised in the execution of our planning strategy.
