A TARGET of building 4,700 new homes in a Gwent borough over 15 years could take a further six years than planned.
A planning blueprint for Torfaen had set the goal of building the homes by 2021, but a review of the council’s local development plan has said it likely to take a further two to three years.
Though the plan covered the period 2006 to 2021 it was only formally adopted by the council in 2013 and based on latest housing figures, to April 2024, the council says it doesn’t expect to reach the target for another two to three years.
By April 1, 2021 there had been 3,480 homes built in Torfaen which was around 1,220 shy of the target however by April 1 this year a total of 4,099 homes had been built, which is 601 short.
Of those 2,783 were market dwellings and 1,316 classed as affordable.
The 2008 recession, Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union and the 2020 Covid pandemic have all been blamed for the target for new housing, and employment sites, taking longer to deliver than originally planned.
There have also been delays to bringing what were identified as strategic sites in the plan forward to completion, but it’s expected the 601 figure will be met from the South Sebastopol development under construction.
The report said while most of those sites, and other ‘windfall’ areas of land, are contributing new homes “viability continues to be an issue in overall house building” and has had an “adverse impact on the levels of affordable housing”.
Despite this the council said the plan has “performed very well in terms of enabling the provision of affordable housing” built through section 106 planning obligations, where developers have to provide a percentage of properties as affordable, and with Welsh Government social housing grants.
However it is acknowledged the total affordable housing need, was and remains, “much higher” than target set in the plan.
The council previously agreed to scrap the replacement plan that was due to run until 2033 with a plan to cover the period 2022 to 2037 and it will consider any shortfalls while sites at Llantarnam, the former County Hall building, Pontypool College, the former Police College in Cwmbran and Mamhilad Park are expected to deliver at least 1,093 homes “in due course”.
It has also acknowledged the replacement plan will have to consider the “need for available and deliverable employment sites of all sizes to meet demand” which hasn’t been met by the current plan which covers all of Torfaen other than those parts in the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park.
An update on the current plan has been approved by the full council for submission to the Welsh Government.