New report calls for more homes

More than 2,000 homes need to be built each year in the Exeter ‘Housing Market Area’, a new report says.

The latest Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) recognises that between 2,172 and 2,601 dwellings need to be built to meet housing need. The Area covers Exeter, East Devon, Mid Devon, Teignbridge and part of Dartmoor National Park.

The Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) addresses housing issues in the area.

The report has been produced by David Couttie Associates, on behalf of the local authorities.

The Area has a combined population of 452,300 people, covering 2,077 square kilometres, formed by outstanding coastal and rural countryside National Park or Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and a wide variety of attractive towns and villages, with the city of Exeter at its centre.

The starting point for the SHMA work has been to look at past long-term population trends and project these forward into the future. The SHMA work translates population growth into housing requirements but also reflects the fact that the Area has a growing economy with a projected increase in jobs and workforce.

The SHMA work is the starting point for establishing housing and affordable housing requirements over the twenty year period from 2013 to 2033. This assessment will be very carefully considered by the local authorities when they prepare or review their local plans.

The report looks at a number of scenarios for housing need including different formation rates for new households and different job growth forecasts and under these various scenarios the overall need in the whole Housing Market Area is between 2,172 and 2,601 dwellings per year.

The complete Strategic Housing Market Assessment can be found on Exeter City Council’s web site  http://www.exeter.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=10690