Newport has provided 58 percent of homes required up to 2026,

DEVELOPMENTS in Newport have provided 58 percent of the homes required up to 2026, a council report has revealed.

In total, 5,978 homes have been built in Newport between April 2011 and March 2020.

The Local Development Plan is the vital framework that determines what types of development will go where in Newport over a 15-year period.

The plan also sets out the housing requirements during this period and says a total of 10,350 homes need to be built to meet demand.

So far, 58 percent have been built, but this does not take into account homes that were built during 2020, details of which are still being finalised.

Many of the homes yet to be built have or are currently going through the planning system, including elements of the Llanwern Village development, Whitehead works development, and the former Queens Hill School site development.

The council’s plan for 2011 to 2026 sets out plans to supply 11,623 homes – 12 percent more than needed. This is to ensure flexibility in case there are changes in demand for housing. The council is just over halfway (51 percent) towards meeting this target.

Newport council is nearly 60 percent of the way towards meeting its target of 2,061 affordable homes being built between 2011 and 2026.

So far, 1,223 affordable homes have been built, which represents around 20 percent of all homes built in the city during the plan period.

However, 267 of the affordable homes were built in 2019/20, which “represents the highest recorded numbers for affordable homes in the plan period so far”.

A total of 667 homes were built in that year, making 40 percent of them affordable housing.

The plan, which sets out housing developments in Newport for the period 2011 to 2026 says: “The affordable housing target will not meet the need figure for the plan period and it is not expected to as it is only one of a variety of means to achieving a supply of affordable housing.”

Although there is a target of just over 2,000 homes, the plan states that there is a requirement of 8,901 homes up to 2026.

When the plan was created, forecasts said Newport’s economy was expected to grow by an additional 7,400 jobs over the 15-year period.

Under the plan, a minimum employment land requirement of 35 hectares has been set out – an area nine times as big as the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

So far, 26 hectares of land have been built on for employment use, an area six times as big as the Principality Stadium.

Provision in the plan has set out 172 hectares of land for employment use up to 2026, “so that sufficient flexibility can be provided to promote growth”.