Context

4.21 Portishead’s existing range of homes is the foundation for our community’s quality of life and opportunities for lifetime living in the town.

4.22 The range of existing homes in Portishead provides open market housing to buy and rent, affordable social rented housing, discounted market shared ownership homes and supported living choices for older and disabled residents. Whilst this goes part of the way to meeting current needs, the 2021 Portishead Housing Needs Assessment and survey undertaken for the Neighbourhood Plan has established that there is an existing shortage of smaller and affordable one, two and three bedroom and accessible homes to buy or rent.

4.23 Portishead contains a higher proportion of larger properties than the national average. Local analysis of housing within Portishead suggests that 3 bedroom properties (48%); followed by 2 bedroom homes (32%); plus a smaller number of 1 bedroom properties (15%) are most needed to be built over the plan period.

4.24 North Somerset Core Strategy Policy CS14 establishes that Portishead is classified as a local service centre where development should be of a locally significant scale and take place within or abutting the settlement boundary, but not in the Green Belt.

4.25 Between 2005 and 2015 Portishead accommodated more than 2780 new homes, rapidly expanding the population. Due to the town’s significant expansion and environmental and infrastructure constraints to development, capacity for future growth at Portishead is severely limited. The draft North Somerset Local Plan indicates that a further c.570 homes may need to be delivered in Portishead between 2023 and 2038. This is an average of 38 homes delivered per annum, below that of the major focus of growth at Weston Super Mare.

4.26 With an evidenced need for smaller and accessible homes, previous significant housing expansion and highly constrained capacity for future growth throughout the lifetime of the Neighbourhood Plan, it is especially important that the foundation of the existing stock of smaller homes at Portishead is protected from loss to enable it to continue to meet the housing needs of our community.

Relevant Objective

O8 To protect Portishead’s stock of one and two bedroom and accessible homes, and ensure that any future housing that comes forward to meet government targets contains a diverse range of tenures, forms and sizes to meet the identified housing needs of the community, protects and enhances Portishead’s distinct character and maintains resident amenity and highway safety.

Local Policy Context

• CS14: Distribution of New Housing
• CS15: Mixed and Balanced Communities

POLICY PWH1 – PROTECTION OF PORTISHEAD’S EXISTING HOUSING STOCK

Development proposals that retain existing one, two and three bedroom residential property in Portishead will be supported. Support will not be given to proposals that would result in the loss of existing residential use.