Housing Land Audit 2021
Introduction
The annual Housing Land Audit (HLA) is a statement of housing land supply within the administrative boundary of Argyll and Bute Council (excluding the area of the Council that is part of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park).
The HLA has two key functions; to demonstrate the availability of sufficient effective land to meet the requirement for a continuous five-year supply; and to provide a snapshot of the amount of land available for the construction of housing at any particular time.
The HLA contains two main sections relating to housing completions and housing land supply.
The first section monitors the numbers of housing completions throughout the last year and provides details of the numbers, where they have been occurring and how many have been occurring on actively monitored sites. It also compares the completion figures from last year with figures from preceding years.
The second section details the housing land supply and provides figures for the established and effective housing land supply.
This section includes details of; sites allocated (Local Development Plan/Proposed Local Development Plan 2) for residential development (including residential components of mixed use sites), certain sites identified as Potential Development Areas (Local Development Plan/Proposed Local Development Plan 2) and land with planning consent for residential development of 5 or more dwellings (known as large windfall sites). The audit sets out through yearly programming the anticipated rate of housing delivery on these actively monitored sites.
This section also includes details of small windfall sites which are sites for less than 5 dwellings that have extant planning consent.
The HLA provides a snapshot of the picture of availability of housing land on 31st March 2021. The audit is therefore an integral part of monitoring the progress of the housing supply as set out in the adopted Local Development Plan and Proposed Local Development Plan 2 and the information provided by this and future audits will help inform the identification of land supply in future LDPs.
Completions
The year 2020/21 saw 228 completions which is a decrease from the previous year (Figure 1).
The start of the monitoring year roughly corresponded with the commencement of Covid 19 restrictions and guidance, and whilst these were then eased, further restrictions were later reintroduced. The completions figures should be considered in light of what was an uncertain economic and social period of time.
The figure of 228 completions in 2020/21 is below the overall 13 year average of 251 but above the average number of completions over the 5 years preceding this audit (217).
The map opposite indicates the geographic distribution of completions in 2020/21 relative to the Administrative Areas.
Completions by Housing Market Area
The map opposite indicates the geographic distribution of completions in 2020/21 relative to the Housing Market Areas.
Figure 2 shows the breakdown of completions by Housing Market Area for the last 5 years.
Completions by Development Management/Control Zones
The current Local Development Plan was adopted in March 2015, replacing the 2009 Local Plan. The Local Development Plan introduced changes to the proposals maps which included revisions and alterations to the designations that were previously known as Development Control Zones including their renaming as Development Management Zones.
Therefore, completions for the years 2014-2021 (Figure 3) have been broken down as per the Development Management Zones set out in the adopted 2015 Local Development Plan. These indicate that the majority (76%) of completions occurred in Local Development Plan identified settlements with the other 23% being outside settlements in the Rural Opportunity Areas (11%), Countryside Zones (8%) and Green Belt (5%).
Completions for the period 2008-2014 have been broken down by the Development Control Zones contained in the previous 2009 Local Plan and show a similar trend that 77% of completions occurred within the identified settlements (Figure 4).
Completions by Development Management/Control Zones - continued
With specific regards to completions in 2020/21, Figure 5 sets out the breakdown by Development Management Zone and these are shown on the map opposite.
Of the 33 completions recorded in the Green Belt in 2020/21 30 can all be attributed to the development of Local Development Plan housing allocation H- AL 3/12 which is set within the Helensburgh and Lomond Green Belt.
Completions on Allocations/Potential Development Areas and Windfall Sites
The Local Development Plan identifies allocations as well as Potential Development Areas (PDAs), these PDAs being areas where specific development opportunities may be supported where known constraints can be overcome. The Housing Land Audit reports on numbers of completions on both allocations and PDAs.
Any completions that are not on an allocation or a PDA are known as windfall.
Figures 6 and 7 show a yearly breakdown of completions on Allocations, Potential Development Areas and windfall sites since 2008/09.
Whilst historically in most years windfall sites have accounted for the majority of completions, for the 2 nd successive year the number of completions on allocations and windfall sites were roughly the same.
Figure 8 details the specific allocation or PDA for the 117 completions in 2020/21 on such sites.
Windfall Completions
Figure 9 shows the number of windfall completions in the different Development Management Zones for 2020/21.
The map opposite shows windfall completions from 2020/21 relative to the Development Management Zones.
Windfall Completions - continued
Figures 10 and 11 show the number of windfall completions in the different Development Management Zones for the last 6 years. Figures 12 and 13 combine these to provide overall trends for those same completions but with the Development Management Zones grouped into settlement and countryside areas. The figures show that the main peaks and troughs in completion rates relates to the Main Town settlements with other zones only showing smaller fluctuations.
With specific regards to windfall completions in 2020/21, the majority (61%) occurred within the Local Development Plan Settlement Zones with the remainder occurring in countryside zones (Figure 12). This represents a 15% increase/decrease from 2019/20 and the smallest proportion of completions in the Settlement Zones out of all 6 years reported (Figure 12).
Completions - Affordable Homes
Of the 228 completions in 2020-21, 59 were ‘affordable’ units. These numbers have been broken down by administrative area in Figure 14 and are also shown on the map opposite.
The 59 affordable completions in 2020-21 represented 26% of the total number. In 2019/20 this was 35%, in 2018/19 and 2017/18 this was 39% and was 56% in 2016/17.
Completions - Market Homes
The completions for 2020/21 for non-affordable, or ‘market’ homes are shown on the map opposite and the break down for the last 5 years are shown in figures 15 and 16 below.
Housing Land Supply
Established Housing Land Supply
Figure 17 sets out the total housing land supply (known as the Established housing land supply). This includes all land allocated fully or in part for residential development in the adopted Local Development Plan (including adopted LDP allocations not included in PLDP2 and new PLDP2 allocations that did not receive any objection at the PLDP2 consultation), certain Potential Development Areas (PDAs) e.g. those that have received planning consent, large windfall sites with extant planning consent and small windfall sites with extant planning consent (planning permission or planning permission in principal).
These figures include the remaining capacity of all those sites under construction.
The 2020-21 Established housing land supply figure is 5406 units.
Effective Housing Land Supply
The Council is required by Scottish Planning Policy to have at least 5 years effective housing land supply. Effective housing sites are those where it can be demonstrated that within five years they will be free of constraints and can be developed for housing.
Scottish Planning Policy sets out that “The housing land requirement can be met from a number of sources, most notably sites from the established supply which are effective or expected to become effective in the plan period, sites with planning permission, proposed new land allocations, and in some cases a proportion of windfall development.”
Through the housing land audit each housing site (adopted LDP allocations, new PLDP2 allocations that did not receive any objection at the PLDP2 consultation, large windfall sites or certain Potential Development Areas e.g. those that have received planning consent) is programmed with an estimated number of units that it is considered will be delivered within each of 5 forthcoming years. The programming is derived from the planning authorities own site visits and knowledge of the sites which are reviewed alongside any planning history and any previous completion rates.
Figure 18 sets out the effective housing land supply, this is comprised of the next 5 years programming of the above sites and the number of units with full planning consent on small windfall sites. PLDP2 sets out that a significant contribution to the housing land supply in many parts of Argyll and Bute comes from windfall sites and makes an allowance for 25% of the LDP2 housing land supply to come from windfall. To reflect this, the effective supply therefore also includes a future windfall allowance of 25% of the housing land supply figure set out in PLDP2. The consistent past delivery from windfall sites can be seen in the completions section of the Housing Land Audit.
Proposed Local Development Plan 2 sets out a 5 year Housing Land Supply Target of 1500 units and the 2020/21 Housing Land Audit demonstrates an effective supply of 2684 units or 8.9 years.
The number of units programmed for post 5 year delivery are shown in the second part of Figure 18 and these comprise the balance of the sites that are anticipated to either partly complete within 5 years or sites where delivery is entirely expected after 5 years. These units, in part, make up the balance of the Established Housing Land Supply.
The map opposite shows the location of the programmed sites that comprise the established and effective supply and also the location of the small windfall sites with planning permission or planning permission in principle.
Further site information can be found by clicking on any site on the map.
The ‘spot’ positions for the Small Windfall sites shown on the map should be seen as general locations and not an absolute location of any building plot.
The site outlines for Allocations and Potential Development Areas shown on the map do not necessarily reflect the outlines of the sites as contained in the adopted Local Development Plan and/or Proposed Local Development Plan 2.
Notes
The figures given are the number of housing units. All figures exclude Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.
1 Units on adopted Local Development Plan allocations, new Proposed Local Development Plan 2 allocations that did not receive any objection at the PLDP2 consultation and units on certain Local Development Plan Potential Development Areas (e.g. those that have received planning consent) programmed between 2021/22 and 2025/26.
2 Units with extant planning consent on large windfall sites (sites not identified for housing in the Local Development Plan) programmed between 2021/22 and 2025/26.
3 Units with full, extant planning consent on small windfall sites (sites not identified for housing in the Local Development Plan) as at 31 st March 2021. Small sites are fewer than 5 units.
4 Future windfall allowance of 25% of the housing land supply figure set out in PLDP2.
5 Units on adopted Local Development Plan allocations, new Proposed Local Development Plan 2 allocations that did not receive any objection at the PLDP2 consultation and units on certain Local Development Plan Potential Development Areas (e.g. those that have received planning consent) programmed for delivery post March 2026. These units are not considered to be effective.
6 Units with extant planning consent on large windfall sites (sites not identified for housing in the Local Development Plan) programmed for delivery post March 2026. These units are not considered to be effective.
The information contained here or anywhere else within the Housing Land Audit does not constitute a formal decision regarding the commencement or implementation of any planning consent.
Completed Sites
Figure 19 shows the Housing Land Audit sites that have now completed their housing developments and therefore no longer form part of the established or effective housing land supply.
The completed sites are shown on the map opposite.
Appendices
Appendix 1 details the programming of the sites shown in Figure 18
Appendix 2 details the windfall sites for less than 5 units with full planning consent.
Appendix 3 is a list of the Local Development Plan settlements