Fears raised that project to build new homes at Tipner in Portsmouth is on the road to nowhere

With consultations under way for a potential 2,200 houses in Tipner West attention has been drawn to nearby Tipner East that was earmarked for development in 2015.

Concerns have been raised over the north section of the area which was due to be developed into 518 homes by the Tipner Regeneration Company.

Councillors said they had been left in the dark about the project.

The council's regeneration boss Councillor Ben Dowling said: 'The Tipner Regeneration Company still owns that bit of land but they are being incredibly slow. We are trying to talk to them about this but we don't know what is happening.

'It's frustrating but we will continue to press for action on Tipner East.'

Council leader Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson added: 'We got the council to apply to Homes England to buy the rest of the land so that some social housing could be built there. They said that it was not viable.

'So the land will be built on by the Tipner Regernation Company. We are just not quite certain in which century this will be done.'

The News failed to get a response from the group after more than two weeks of asking.

For local resident and chairman of the Tipner and Stamshaw Neighbourhood Forum, John Cass, it was extremely frustrating. He said: 'We have had all these consultations talking about Tipner West and that's all well and good but really we want to get Tipner East going. Tipner West is years away.

'But the land at Tipner East is ready to be built on, it's just sitting there. It's been sitting there for years. There should have people living in there now.

'And what do they envisage being on Tipner East? We don't even know what's being planned, if anything is.'

However, part of Tipner East will be regenerated by Homes England who have confirmed 150 homes will be provided on the south of the site.

A spokeswoman for Homes England said: 'Homes England is committed to delivering homes where they are most needed. We are working alongside Portsmouth City Council on proposals to build around 150 new homes on Homes England’s land at the Tipner East site.

'We are now in the process of securing the right developer. More details will be announced shortly.'

Cllr Dowling was buoyed by this. 'We will continue to work closely with landowners, developers and the local community to make sure that we take advantage of all opportunities to provide Portsmouth with more good quality homes so we look forward to seeing the proposals Homes England puts forward for this site,' he said.

Current housing targets set by government require 17,260 new homes to be built in Portsmouth between 2016 and 2036.