House Building in Vale of Glamorgan Falling Short of Targets, Council Report Shows

House building in the Vale of Glamorgan is falling short of the targets set out in the local council’s development plan (LDP).
Vale of Glamorgan Council’s latest LDP annual monitoring report was discussed by the local authority’s cabinet members at a meeting on Thursday, October 5.
A council’s LDP is used to determine which areas of land can be used for development over a certain period of time.
The annual monitoring report brought before cabinet showed that the currently adopted LDP delivered 6,042 additional dwellings as of April 1, 2023.
This is 22% below the monitoring target of 7,567 dwellings for the period.
However, the report also highlights that good progress has been made on meeting targets related to the approval of housing developments.
According to the report, 6,072 (78%) of new dwellings approved since 2011 have been on allocated LDP sites, which is above the monitoring target of 5,592.
The council’s current LDP, which was intended to run from 2011 to 2026, earmarked a total of 48 sites for development with the intention of delivering 8,525 homes.
Vale of Glamorgan Council cabinet member for community engagement, equalities and regulatory services, Councillor Ruba Sivagnanam, said: “Whilst the number of dwellings granted planning permission is above our monitoring targets at this point in the plan period, the number of units actually built is below what should have actually been delivered.
“This is largely influenced by external factors. The war in Ukraine has had an impact, for example, on the availability and cost of building materials and I think we know that throughout Wales and the UK.
“With the cost-of-living crisis and the increases in mortgage interest rates, they have also affected demand.”
Employment and the delivery of jobs in the county was also highlighted in the annual monitoring report as an area where targets are not being met.
The total amount of LDP land with approved planning applications relating to employment use in the Vale of Glamorgan is currently at 96.71 hectares since the adoption of the current plan.
Vale of Glamorgan Council’s 2023 annual monitoring report states this is considerably lower than the 251 hectares target set out for the next annual monitoring report.
Cllr Sivagnanam did highlight some positives. The report states that good progress has been made on the delivery of community facilities and some education facilities.
Cllr Sivagnanam added that the LDP has been “very effective in successfully restricting inappropriate development”, highlighting as an example that no approval was given for proposed developments on flood plains in 2022-23.
Cabinet members agreed to submit the local authority’s latest LDP annual monitoring report to the Welsh Government, which they are required to do by October 31.
Cllr Sivagnanam said: “Overall the annual monitoring report demonstrates that good progress has been in implementing most of the plan’s policies and overall, the LDP strategy remains sound.”
Commenting on the monitoring targets which were not met, she later added: “Whilst they are of concern, the indicators will continue to be monitored in the years going forward… and will be considered in our review of our LDP.”
The council is currently preparing a replacement local development plan (RLDP), which will run until 2036.
A draft RLDP document will go before cabinet on November 2. It will then go before council members at a full council meeting on November 20 and a consultation process on the RLDP is scheduled to commence on December 6. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​