100 per cent affordable housing plan for Plymouth outskirts

Six acre brownfield site will provide 125 homes

Plans have been submitted for a  housing scheme on the outskirts of Plymouth at which all the homes will be classed as affordable.

The plans for land north of Southway Drive at Southway include four blocks of three-storey one-bed apartments and a mix of two, three and four bed houses.

The brownfield site of more than six acres is allocated for development in the Plymouth and South Devon Joint Local Plan. Access will be via Flamborough Road.

Two car parking spaces will be provided for houses with two bedrooms or more, and one space for apartments, as well as additional visitors’ spaces.

Gardens will be 100 square metres for detached homes, 75 square metres for semi-detached and 50 square metres for terraced dwellings.

Green communal spaces for the apartments have been provided in the plans as well as communal refuse and cycle stores.

The scheme has been submitted to Plymouth City Council by Plymouth Community Homes Ltd and is expected to deliver a valuable housing resource to the city and the surrounding area.

The council says building more social rented homes and affordable homes, which can be discounted open market and shared ownership homes, are a priority as the city is “in the midst of an unprecedented housing crisis” and needs more homes to meet its need.

The number of households waiting for a home in Plymouth was just over 7,000 in March.

Homelessness charity Shelter recently claimed that of the 2,454 new affordable homes built in the city over the last decade, only 331 were for social rent.

It is calling on all political parties ahead of the general election to commit to dramatically increasing new social housing nationally, saying this is the only type of housing that is truly affordable by design, because rents are tied to local incomes.