Council to identify vacant land for house building

BCP Council proposed building 24,000 homes over 15 years

Vacant sites across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole are set to be identified and assessed for affordable housing, following a council vote.

A motion discussed at a recent meeting of BCP Council aimed to tackle the lack of development on land where planning permission had already been granted.

Labour councillor for Hamworthy Peter Cooper said the authority had to "act now" and potentially use legal powers to make developers start building on sites.

Backing the motion, council leader Millie Earl said the current level of rent in the region was "not acceptable".

The motion called for an urgent audit of all vacant or stalled sites, as well as a detailed financial breakdown of council-owned land.

Mr Cooper's motion also urged central government to strengthen laws against speculative land banking and support the delivery of affordable homes in line with its housing policy.

It argued: "There are sites that have been approved by this council for development and yet nothing has happened.

"There's no development and there's no end in sight. We need to act now to ensure that everyone has access to safe, secure and affordable housing."

Liberal Democrat Ms Earl, who leads the coalition council, said: "Rents in this area are now 10 times the national average wage.

"That is not sustainable. That is not acceptable. And that is why this motion is so important."

The motion was approved without a formal vote as all councillors agreed with the proposal.

Earlier in the year, the council's plan for building 24,000 homes over 15 years was thrown into doubt when inspectors rejected its Local Plan.