Housing Development in Neath Port Talbot Falls Significantly Behind Projections, Council Report Reveals

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The amount of housing being built in Neath Port Talbot County Borough has been described as being significantly behind when compared to projections, according to a council report released earlier this year. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The council’s annual monitoring report for 2023, which reviews targets in the borough’s Local Development Plan, has highlighted how the amount of housing built across Neath Port Talbot over the past 12 years is approximately 59% less than the expected 8,760 houses planned from 2011 to 2026. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The staggering figures that show the backlog in housing development in the area were described as having a “significant under delivery of housing within Neath Port Talbot over the current LDP Period,” with only 223 homes per annum being built on average. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

When broken down by year, figures showed that out of a targeted 495 houses set for 2023, only 102 have actually been built, with the report acknowledging that the LDP will not be able to deliver the minimum number of 7,800 houses from the total of 8,760 planned. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

This has recently led members of Neath Port Talbot Council to delay the delivery of their Replacement Local Development Plan until next year, to give officers more time to search for potential housing development sites across the borough, as well as to explore some potential solutions to the existing housing deliverability issues. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Some of these issues were discussed in a meeting held by council bosses in September of 2023, and said that a number of factors such as flood risk, and lack of infrastructure had led to a back-log in development, along with limited developer interest.
It read: “Neath Port Talbot has a number of constraints, which, combined, are preventing sites coming forward, including viability, contamination, flood risk and infrastructure, most notably capacity of the local highway network.”
It means more focus will now be put on finding suitable sites for housing by the local authority, as well the completion of long-standing housing projects such as those at Coed-Darcy, where as of 2019 only 300 houses had been built out of 4,000 that were initially approved.
Other notable development sites which are yet to be built on include land at Blaenbaglan in the Baglan area, which is allocated under the Local Development Plan as having space for a developer to build approximately 140 dwellings on.
Members have however highlighted how potential economic developments such as the approved Wildfox adventure resort, and Celtic Freeport in Port Talbot, could generate more interest in the area for developers moving forward.
Labour councillor Suzanne Paddison of Sandfields West said it was important that more houses were built in the area, though added that there were difficulties in finding land for larger housing sites, that enticed developers while complying with planning law. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

She said: “Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council need to build more houses and our officers will work with any potential developer. The M4 corridor is popular but there are fewer and fewer areas that comply with the complexities of Planning Law and are large enough to be sustainable. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“There are communities in rural and semi rural areas that would welcome development but fall short in meeting all planning regulations on things such as flood risk or other environmental issues, and it is sometimes difficult to meet both the need and the regulations.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The annual report also showed that the area was falling behind when it came to affordable housing, with only 72 affordable units being delivered out of a targeted 1,200, since it was published in 2011. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

It has led to suggestions of a correlation between the rise in the number of people presenting as homeless across the borough, and a decrease in access to affordable housing, with homelessness now described as a pressure area for Neath Port Talbot Council’s budget. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Figures of people currently in temporary accommodation in Neath Port Talbot  seem to support this link, with the numbers more than doubling from 313 people in 2019-20 to 832 in 2023-24, alongside a decline of housing completions stemming back to 2018. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

A section from the draft housing and homeless plan for 2023 says, “Demand for housing across all tenures is outstripping supply and housing costs are increasing.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

A Neath Port Talbot Council spokesperson said: “The Local Development Plan (LDP) Review Report (July 2020) identified there had been an under delivery of housing in Neath Port Talbot compared to the targets in the LDP.
“The report found that viability had become an increasing concern within the area, with a number of planning applications unable to meet the level of planning obligations required by LDP Policy. It also identified limited developer interest in bringing sites forward in Neath Port Talbot, however, these issues are not just unique to Neath Port Talbot – but are experienced across Wales as a whole.
“Since then, viability has continued to have a major impact on the delivery of housing, with build costs increasing significantly over recent years, and changes to building regulations exacerbating this and adding additional costs to development.
“There are also a number of constraints in the area, with parts of the county borough, as in other parts of Wales and the UK, prone to flood risk, contamination, topography and infrastructure challenges (most notably capacity of the local highway network). Balancing marginal viability and constraints has proven to be a challenge, with many national house builders not active in the area.
“Preliminary findings from the call for candidate sites held in 2022, alongside information obtained from the LDP Annual Monitoring Reports (AMR) and economic growth projections for the Replacement LDP indicates that there is a requirement for additional housing land to be identified in addition to existing infrastructure and viability matters that require additional time to overcome.
“Restarting the plan process would present an opportunity to enable the Council to produce a robust, sound plan by providing additional time to work through potential solutions for a number of existing constraints, reduce the under-delivery of housing in the initial years of the plan and enable another call for candidate sites to be undertaken.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​