Extra 140,000 homes planned for South of England

Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, is planning another 140,000 homes for south of England. The houses are to be built in the Solent Gateway area, between Southampton and Portsmouth.

There are already plans for 780,000 new homes across the South East of England but the Government believes there will be a 1.1 million homes shortfall by 2020.

Extra 140,000 homes plans come on top of proposals for 200,000 homes along the Thames Gateway in East London, Ashford in Kent, the M11 corridor in Essex and Milton Keynes, Bucks.

Keith Hill, the housing minister in the previous government, gave a recent interview in a publication on urban regeneration, complaining that councils in the South-East had not found enough space for new housing.

He added: "We are disappointed that the South-East has set lower housing targets. I am beginning to think not only in terms of the Thames Gateway but also the Solent Gateway."

Southampton city council confirmed that it had plans for 50,000 new homes under the Gateway scheme, around the towns of Gosport and Fareham and on the edges of Southampton and Ports-mouth. It has just completed public consultations on plans for another 80,000 homes in the area.

In the South-East, an over-heating market for housing has prompted the accelerated development of homes in Kent and Essex, but the proposals have been controversial where they involve building on Greenfield land sites.

The Thames Gateway plans have been less controversial because they are largely on previously developed, brownfield land sites.

Barbara Compton, the head of housing strategy at Southampton, said: "This plan is driven by the need for economic growth, which is below the national average here."

Mr Prescott's housing plans have been controversial, particularly in deprived areas in the north where millions of pounds for the regeneration of "Pathfinder Communities" have involved tearing down Victorian housing.

- May 2005

- James M

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