Fears raised Fareham council could take on housing from Portsmouth and Gosport

A councillor fears Fareham could be asked to take on extra housing

Councillor Shaun Cunningham, who represents Portchester East on Fareham Borough Council, has warned that the borough is likely to take on more housing from Portsmouth, Gosport and Havant due to land constraints in the respective areas.

His fears come as a new report by the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire (Push) has said that 10,500 homes are needed for Fareham, 18,500 homes for Portsmouth, 8.375 for Gosport and 11,250 for Havant.

The organisation, made up of 12 local authorities, have listed these figures as a guide for house building in the respective areas by 2036.

Last year, Fareham Borough Council adopted its local plan which set out to build 3,729 homes for the rest of the borough by 2026 and the 6,000-home Welborne plan.

Councillor Sean Woodward, leader of the borough council said the local authority can meet this demand.

However, Cllr Cunningham believes the council will have to step in to provide homes allocated for other areas.

He said: ‘Gosport and Havant will come to us as they do not enough land to build these homes on and why should Fareham have to put up with it?

‘We have got our own problems with meeting our own housing need.

‘In fact, I believe the housing demand for Fareham will go up and that these numbers should be taken as minimal.

‘There will be a substantial increase of housing in Fareham.’

Cllr Woodward said that the council has ‘a duty’ to co-operate with other authorities in regards to housing need.

He said: ‘Gosport is of course a real issue and we know they cannot accommodate these numbers.

‘However, we have a duty to co-operate with them and there could be an agreement in terms of a phased process where we provide houses for them for a few years and then they do the same.

‘It is all about looking at what’s best to suit everybody at this moment in time.’

Councillor Mark Hook, leader of Gosport Borough Council rubbished the report, stating: ‘It’s a theoretical study that did not take into account land availability.

‘Our local plan last year said we would build 3,060 homes - 170 a year by 2029 - and we are sticking to that.

Cllr Hook said that the council is already talking to other local authorities about how best to meet their housing demand.

He said: ‘That was the whole point of Push, for us all to come together and see how we best meet our own targets.’

Councillor Steve Wemyss, cabinet member for housing at Portsmouth City Council said he was confident that Portsmouth would be meeting its own housing demands.

He said: ‘Portsmouth will not be building homes on other council’s land.

‘However, what we do need to do is to look at south Hampshire as a whole and allocate the right areas for the right number of housing.’