New plan to discuss shortfall of housing needs
Council bosses in Wolverhampton are due to give their response to the new Sandwell Local Plan which started up in autumn last year.
It follows the end of work on the Black Country Plan (BCP) – a detailed programme identifying housing and employment needs for the region over the next two decades.
A consultation on the plan’s proposals took place during February and March, and the city’s cabinet members are set to give their feedback at a meeting next week.
The process identified a housing need of 30,300 homes for the new Sandwell plan period up to 2041, and an anticipated housing land supply of 9,492 homes – resulting in a shortfall of 20,808 homes.
The document outlines a number of options to deal with this, including increased densities on new sites.
In a report to cabinet members, lead planning officer Michele Ross said: “It is welcome that good progress has been made with the new local plan. It is also welcome that the programming of the plan is broadly aligned to that for the Wolverhampton plan, given the need to progress a regional solution to addressing housing and employment land needs which form a key element of the consultation.
“Sandwell Council should be encouraged to continue to fully explore all opportunities within the borough to maximise development capacity. However, there is a need to prevent the loss of viable employment land and premises – given the evidenced shortfall of land across the Black Country.
“Whilst further work may identify some additional capacity, it is accepted that it will not be possible to meet all needs within the borough, and that it will be necessary for Sandwell to ask adjacent authorities if they are able to contribute towards meeting needs through the allocation of land in their local plans.
“The draft Black Country Plan (BCP), published for consultation in 2021, identified a shortfall of some 28,000 homes to 2039 across the four council areas. For Wolverhampton, the housing shortfall was substantial at some 7,700 homes up to 2039,” she added.
Leader of the council Councillor Ian Brookfield has already committed to excluding any sites which are currently located within the green belt as development allocations within the emerging plan.
“This would further increase the city’s housing shortfall up to 2039 to some 8,700 homes,” said Ms Ross.
“The new local plan will also have a period extending to 2041, which could further increase this shortfall. For this reason, Wolverhampton will not be in a position to provide land to meet housing needs arising in Sandwell.”
Wolverhampton Council’s cabinet members will discuss the matter next Wednesday.
