Brownfield Land

We aim to deliver as much housing as possible on previously developed land. This is the target we aim for:

Core Strategy Target 10.3

80 per cent of new dwellings to be provided on previously developed land (equating to 13,800 homes by 2021).

This target is on track.

In the last year 96 per cent of new homes were built on previously developed land. Of the four per cent of new dwellings built on greenfield sites, three per cent was on land classified as garden land.

Nationally the loss of garden land through development is a significant issue. Between 1997 and 2008 the number of homes built on this type of land rose from 10 per cent to 25 per cent, reducing green breathing space, safe places for children to play and havens for urban wildlife. In Plymouth very few dwellings have been built on garden land: since 2006 only 92 out of 4,335 dwellings (2 per cent) fall into this category, an average of 18 dwellings a year.

Of all the new build development currently in the development pipeline

• 92 per cent is on previously developed land
• Eight per cent is on greenfield sites (including the two per cent of development on land classified as garden land)

When conversions and house subdivisions are added to the picture, all of which are classified as previously developed, it is likely that the Core Strategy target of 80 per cent of development on previously developed land, will be achieved next year.

This page of the annual monitoring report was last updated December 2011.