Last week the Daily Echo reported that a development of 61 new homes in Blandford St Mary has received expressions of interest from 2,700 separate people before it has been formally launched. Whilst the development of two, three and four bedroom homes are located across the border in North Dorset, it is just 13 miles from the Canford Park site and demonstrates the high level of demand for houses in the local area.
The huge interest in these homes is far from an isolated incident and you may recall that we reported in February on the high uptake of the Government’s Help to Buy scheme in the Poole area.
Figures released by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in February indicated that 262 residents in the Borough of Poole have benefitted from the Help to Buy scheme during 2013 to 2017. In the same period, Bournemouth saw 200 buyers take advantage and just 101 buyers took advantage in North Dorset.
The greater uptake in Poole than other areas of Dorset demonstrates the demand for new homes in Poole specifically.
The demand for affordable homes in the area is equally widespread with some 950 applicants currently sitting on the housing waiting list in Poole which is 80% more than in 2013 when 523 applicants were on the waiting list.
However, despite the urgent need for affordable homes, in the 12 months to March 2017, just 60 affordable homes were completed in Borough of Poole.
As per the emerging Local Plan policy for the site, Canford Park could deliver a minimum of 800 homes and a 60-bed care home.
Canford Park will focus on a bias towards family homes to complement the predominantly flatted schemes proposed for central Poole and elsewhere in the Borough. In addition, 40% of the new homes will be affordable or aimed at first-time buyers – something rarely achieved within the existing urban area.