BRISTOL City Council has introduced its plans of new, affordable and sustainable homes.
At an event for the housing, development and investor sector on 3 March, Mayor Marvin Rees outlined how the council is future-proofing for a growing population and climate change, prompting Bristol’s greatest transformation in generations.
With the city’s population expected to grow by 20% within the next 20 years, the council’s accelerated house building programme will see 9,175 new homes, including 1,619 affordable, built in the four years to 2021.
The council’s programme has taken a multi-strand, innovative approach to meet the current and future demand for housing including:
- initiating the biggest council house-building programme in the last 40 years with over 150 houses already completed
- releasing 43 council sites for new council and market-let housing over the last four years including 13 sites with capacity for over 1,100 homes, over 50% affordable.
- seeking out partners to support the housebuilding agenda such as LiveWest and Keepmoat Homes who are building 261 homes on Hartcliffe Campus and Bristol Community Land Trust are working in partnership with United Communities are building 50 affordable homes in Lockleaze.
- securing planning permission to build 1,450 homes (30% affordable) Hengrove Park including a mixture of homes for social housing, shared ownership and market-led housing
- supporting the Bristol Housing Festival in bringing forward modular and innovative house-building technologies designed for ‘high-quality, low-energy living’ such as the award-winning ZedPods in St George and 200 Boklok units at Airport Road
- establishing its own housing company, Goram Homes, that has already agreed private sector partnerships to build 250 homes with Galliford Try at Romney House (55% affordable) in Lockleaze and 150 homes (40% affordable) at Baltic Wharf with Hill.
The house-building programme goes hand-in hand with major regeneration projects such as Western Harbour, Frome Gateway, Bedminster Green and Temple Quarter.
These are being transformed by climate-resilient, mixed-use development designed to create urban communities with accessible public transport and thousands of jobs.
The council is committed to co-designing developments with communities to ensure they can be places where current and future generations can flourish.
At Frome Gateway the council is working with the local community to create ‘a truly sustainable neighbourhood that can be an exemplar in climate resilient and carbon neutral housing and sustainable mixed use development.’
Temple Quarter includes the transformation of Temple Meads station to accommodate doubling passenger numbers, enhance access and create a sustainable transport hub to make it much easier get to and around the city and region.
Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol commented on the plans: “As we face inevitable climate change and population growth we are future-proofing for the future by creating a city where citizens can live in a high quality, low carbon-impact house they can afford and enjoy a good quality of life with easy access to education, jobs and the city’s retail centres.
“Coupled with major regeneration projects such as Temple Quarter and Western Harbour that will create mixed-use communities where communities and businesses can flourish we are creating an inclusive, sustainable economically successful city where everyone can share in its success.”
