'Too few' affordable homes are being built

CRITICS SAY NUMBER OF NEW HOMES GOING UP IS 'APPALLING'

- By ALISON STEPHENSON Local Democracy Reporter

LESS than 100 open market homes and 189 affordable homes were built in Plymouth during 2023/24 - figures which this week were described as “pitiful” and “appalling”.

Work has not started on more than 5,000 homes which have secured planning permission - and stalled or stopped on thousands more.

The situation was revealed at a meeting of Plymouth City Council’s natural infrastructure and growth scrutiny panel on Wednesday, where meeting chair Cllr Steve Ricketts (Ind, Drake) questioned how the city’s big ambitions for housing growth would come to fruition.

Plymouth’s Plan for Homes seeks to build at least 5,000 homes in the city centre over the next five years, in a new vision for city living that can match the likes of Liverpool and Manchester.