Homes
Southampton is a city of around 249,000 people living in 110,000 homes. It is the second most densely populated of the South East’s local authority areas, with almost 5,000 people per square kilometre. It is a growing city and saw a population increase of over 5% between 2011 and 2021.
In addition to policy on the number of new homes needed in the city (policy ST1), the Local Plan also provides guidance on the specific type of homes required and criteria for development. This includes the delivery of affordable homes which is one of the key challenges facing the city. These policies must be read together with later sections in the plan which ensure new development is sustainable and well designed.
Links to all other parts of the plan can be found on the right of this page.
Southampton is a city of around 249,000 people living in 110,000 homes. It is the second most densely populated of the South East’s local authority areas, with almost 5,000 people per square kilometre. It is a growing city and saw a population increase of over 5% between 2011 and 2021.
In addition to policy on the number of new homes needed in the city (policy ST1), the Local Plan also provides guidance on the specific type of homes required and criteria for development. This includes the delivery of affordable homes which is one of the key challenges facing the city. These policies must be read together with later sections in the plan which ensure new development is sustainable and well designed.
Links to all other parts of the plan can be found on the right of this page.
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Whilst there is continuing pressure for higher densities to deliver development in Southampton, it is important that this is properly planned having regard to the importance of securing well-designed, attractive, and healthy places.
The Council will ensure developments make the optimal use of available land, appropriate to their context, and support the regeneration of previously developed land, whilst avoiding homes being built at densities which are too low to achieve the housing delivery required to support the Southampton’s predicted population growth over time.
To ensure this residential growth is sustainable, higher-density development will be focussed in the following highly accessible locations: the city centre, Shirley town centre, district centres, and the key public transport corridors and hubs.
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Retaining existing housing numbers, upgrading existing stock and ensuring new developments are built at an appropriate density will all help meet the overall housing need in Southampton.
In planning for housing, the aim is to provide a broad housing mix in the city in order to meet identified needs – this can include the delivery of private housing (owner occupied and rented), and affordable housing in terms of the tenure and a range of housing types covering a varied housing mix to include family housing, Houses in Multiple Occupation, co-living homes, specialist accommodation for the elderly and vulnerable and purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) should there be an evidenced demand.
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One of the key challenges of this plan is to deliver the right type of new homes needed in Southampton as well as the right number to meet the city’s housing targets. There is a relatively low level of home ownership in Southampton compared to the national average, with only half of dwellings being owner occupied and a quarter are privately rented. The affordability of housing remains a key issue for the city and one the Council is trying to address as part of its own programme of affordable homes delivery on its own land.
This policy seeks to deliver a range of affordable homes through the planning process as part of new development including rented homes and affordable home ownership. The policy also sets out a requirement for First Homes in line with Government policy.
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The conversion of suitable buildings for housing and other initiatives, such as promoting flats above shops, can bring new life into centres and further reduce the need to build on green spaces. Re-using vacant and under-used buildings can provide sustainability benefits such as reducing the need to travel and lessening the demand for new building materials and resources. Re-using vacant and underused buildings can also do much to stimulate a mix of uses associated with the evening and night-time economy. Policy HO4 will work alongside the current system of Permitted Development Rights which, subject to Prior Approval along with any other restrictions and conditions, allows for some buildings to be converted to dwellings depending on their Use Class.
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There is a substantial need for housing in Southampton. Therefore, it is the Council’s preferred approach that the net loss of housing will be strongly resisted to support Policy HO2: Housing Mix. The net loss of housing will only be acceptable in exceptional circumstances such as where there are significant wider benefits from a redevelopment that can be robustly justified and the impact on the amenity of neighbouring and nearby residents is acceptable.
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A House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) is a residential property occupied by a group of unrelated persons such as students, key workers and young professionals who share communal facilities such as a kitchen, living room or bathroom/toilet.
The Use Classes Order establishes two different types of HMO depending on the number of occupants:
A Class C4 HMO use is defined as housing where between 3 and 6 unrelated people reside and share amenities
A larger HMO with 7 or more people sharing is unclassified as ‘Sui Generis’
With a city-wide Article 4 Direction being made effective in March 2012, planning permission is required to change the use from a C3 family dwelling to a C4 HMO (a change to a Sui Generis HMO needs planning permission in its own right). Permitted development rights remain to change an HMO to a C3 family dwelling without planning permission. Whilst both forms of HMOs have a different use class to a C3 family dwelling, both types of HMO properties are still a form of dwelling house which can be capable and suitable for use as a family dwelling in the future.
HMOs provide an important contribution to the mix of housing within the City. In particular, they provide affordable accommodation to those who cannot afford to buy or rent a home of their own as well as providing the option to share certain household running costs, such as utility bills, between tenants thereby reducing an individual tenant’s living costs. Consequently, having access to this type of accommodation can help attract workers to the city who need a more affordable option whilst also continuing to support existing workers who want to continue living in the city. HMOs also provide opportunities for people to live together who are not co-habiting couples and who otherwise may not wish to live alone thereby reducing potential instances of social isolation and the negative effects this can have on mental health and wellbeing.
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The University of Southampton and Solent University, together with the city’s other Further Education colleges, cater for over40,000 students. There are halls of residence operated by the universities, private student accommodation in the form of shared houses (usually HMOs - Houses in Multiple Occupation), private halls of residence and developments of studio flats exclusively for students, often known as Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA). In 2020 there were approximately 15,600 (10,800 in 2016) purpose built bed spaces in the city including university halls of residence. PBSA accounts for an ever growing proportion of the student accommodation provision in Southampton.
PBSA is managed communal accommodation, restricted to occupancy by students undertaking a full-time course of higher education, and it is the student’s primary residence. They can take the form of studio flats or study bedrooms in cluster flats, in either new build properties or conversions.
A number of blocks of new purpose-built student accommodation have been constructed in the city centre and in the Portswood area of the city over the last decade.
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The Council has a responsibility to ensure the accommodation needs of Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling Showpeople are met when they choose to locate in Southampton as part of their nomadic way of life. Current accommodation provision in the City includes a designated public Gypsy and Traveller site located at Kanes Lane, private Gypsy and Traveller sites with permanent planning permission at Botany Bay Road and South East Road and two Travelling Showpeople Yards at Candy Lane and Coles Yard.
The Council supports improvements to the existing accommodation at Kanes Hill as well as its further expansion if there is an identified need in the future. The Council also supports the provision of new accommodation for Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling Showpeople in appropriate locations where there is an identified need once any expansion of the Kanes Hill site has been occupied.
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As a maritime city, there has been a long history of houseboats in Southampton with a small number still situated along the banks of the River Itchen. Whilst houseboats can provide well needed homes for local people, it is vital that any new houseboats and their associated moorings, or changes to existing houseboats, are carefully designed and sited to minimise the potential impact on the character of the waterfront as well as the local nature, wildlife, and ecology conservation interests.
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