RSS East Of England Plan - Broads Authority

East of England Plan 27
Section 5
Housing
5.1 This section should be read with PPS3, which sets out national policy on planning for housing development, together with
the accompanying guidance on such matters as strategic housing market assessments. It complements the Regional
Housing Strategy for the East of England, which covers related delivery issues, including action to improve the existing
housing stock and allocation of funding to support provision of affordable housing. It reflects the context of the Housing
Green Paper, Homes for the Future: More Affordable, More Sustainable, July 2007. Priorities in the Green Paper include
further increasing the level of new provision with a national target of 240,000 additional homes a year by 2016, increasing
social rented housing and low cost home ownership, and a range of initiatives to support delivery and ensure growth is
sustainable and compatible with environmental constraints.
5.2 Housing markets vary but there are affordability problems in nearly all parts of the East of England. Provision of sufficient
high quality housing to meet the needs of the region’s growing population is a key priority. In the most pressurised housing
market areas, such as close to London and around Cambridge, the emphasis is on maximising sustainable housing
capacity on previously developed land and limited green field development in response to strong market demand and
acute affordability problems. Affordability problems are also acute in many coastal and rural areas, driven by demand from
long distance commuters and for second homes. In other areas, mainly towards the north and east, the pressures are
less acute and the emphasis is on creating the conditions in which the planned house building rate will be achieved in step
with economic growth and without increases in long distance commuting.
5.3 The annual average of at least 26,830 net additional dwellings a year from 2006, together with its distribution across the
region, is a significant step towards a more adequate rate of housing provision to meet the needs of the region’s growing
and ageing population and slow down the deterioration in affordability, which has made it increasingly difficult for large
sections of the community to buy a home. It is, however, a partial step: provision is less than forecast household growth
and than the National Housing and Planning Advisory Unit suggests is needed to avoid further deterioration in affordability.
Hence the emphasis on treating the housing targets as minima, the role of Ecotowns in further increasing provision, and
the crucial role of the further RSS review in putting in place a further step change.