Hundreds of new homes built in Hartlepool in last year

A total of 528 properties were created in 2015-16 which was 219 more than target.

But Hartlepool Borough Council stays it still needs to deliver almost 700 more new homes in the borough to meet demand.

The housing picture is contained within the council’s annual Local Development Framework 2015-16 Authorities Monitoring Report.

It stated: “The net opening stock of housing as at the start of this year was 42,901 dwellings and net closing stock was 43,429.

“This year’s net additional dwelling completion of 528 dwellings total is therefore above the set net delivery target.

“For the third year running the net additional dwellings has been increasing and this is positive for the borough as it moves towards demonstrating a five-year supply of housing land, however, there is still a shortfall of nearly 700 dwellings since the adoption of the 2006 Local Plan.

“Completions are again expected to improve next year as it is anticipated that there will be more completions from large housing developments such as Quarry Farm, Britmag, Mayfair at Seaton Carew, Area 15 Middle Warren, Wynyard and various small sites.”

Almost two thirds (61.3%) of new housing was on previously developed land.

But the council expects that figure to fall as the new Local Plan is set to set aside more greenfield land for housing.

During 2015-16, 136 new affordable homes were delivered. Although it was slightly below the council’s target of 144, it was a significant increase from just 39 the previous year.

The current total of empty homes in Hartlepool is 589, down from last year’s total of 938, with 86 brought back into residential use.

The report states: “More empty homes are being brought back into use therefore the Empty Homes Strategy is progressing well and is expected to remain so in the coming years.”