BCP Council Targets Vacant Sites to Boost Affordable Housing Development

Vacant and underutilised land across Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole will soon be under the spotlight, following a decisive move by BCP Council to tackle the region’s growing housing crisis.

In a recent council meeting, councillors unanimously backed a motion calling for urgent action on sites where planning permission has been granted but no development has taken place. The goal: to identify and assess these stalled sites for their potential to deliver much-needed affordable housing.

The motion, proposed by Labour councillor for Hamworthy, Peter Cooper, urged the council to take stronger action — including considering legal powers — to compel developers to begin building. “We need to act now,” said Cllr Cooper. “There are sites that have been approved by this council for development, and yet nothing has happened. There’s no development, and there’s no end in sight. We need to act now to ensure that everyone has access to safe, secure and affordable housing.”

The proposal also called for a comprehensive audit of all vacant or stalled development sites and a detailed financial breakdown of council-owned land that could potentially be used for housing. Additionally, Cllr Cooper urged the government to tighten regulations surrounding speculative land banking and to provide stronger support for the delivery of affordable housing, in line with national housing policies.

Council leader Millie Earl, a Liberal Democrat leading the coalition council, echoed the urgency. “Rents in this area are now 10 times the national average wage. That is not sustainable. That is not acceptable. And that is why this motion is so important.”

With unanimous support, the motion passed without the need for a formal vote — a rare display of cross-party agreement in the chamber.

This new focus comes at a time of uncertainty for the council’s broader housing strategy. Earlier this year, BCP Council’s ambitious plan to deliver 24,000 new homes over the next 15 years was thrown into question after government inspectors rejected its draft Local Plan.

As the housing crisis deepens and rental prices soar, the council’s push to unlock stalled developments may offer a critical opportunity to ease pressure on the local housing market and move closer to delivering safe, secure, and affordable homes for all.