No affordable homes built at all in Adur for second time in three years

A total of 114 net new dwellings were completed in the district in 2017/18 up from 64 the year before, an increase of nearly 80 per cent.

But while 32 affordable units were delivered in 2016/17, none were built in either 2015/16 or 2017/18, according to the latest annual monitoring report published by Adur District Council.

However the document explains that 23 per cent of the total housing supply over the last seven years has been affordable, with an annual average of 27 affordable homes completed in the district, excluding the area in the South Downs National Park.

It describes how there are a number of sites with planning permission which will deliver affordable units in future monitoring years.

Adur’s local plan seeks 30 per cent affordable housing provision, but this is on sites of 11 dwellings or more.

Although the area has an objectively assessed need for 325 dwellings per annum, the plan, which was adopted in December 2017, has a minimum target of 177 homes a year.

This is because the district’s location between the South Downs and the sea as well as its flooding and infrastructure constraints means there is a limited amount of suitable land available for development.

Large scale strategic housing allocations in the plan include sites at Shoreham’s western harbour arm, New Monks Farm in Lancing and land at West Sompting.

It is projected the rate of housebuilding will rise to 588 new dwellings a year in 2022/23 before falling back down to current levels several years later.

During this monitoring period 414 planning applications were decided and 11 appeals to the Secretary of State were determined.

Of these eight were dismissed by the planning inspectorate, two were allowed, while one enforcement notice was upheld.