More than 1,000 homes built in Reading over a year

Figures show 1,021 homes and flats were completed in 2023/24, of which 224 (21 per cent) are designated affordable.

That is below the 30 per cent that the council asks developers to provide for developments of 10 or more homes.

The figures were presented to Reading Borough Council’s planning applications committee.

Micky Leng, deputy council leader and lead councillor for planning said: “21 per cent of the new homes are affordable.

“A considerable amount of those are Reading Borough Council stock that we’ve brought online, but that is an improvement on four years ago, when we were at 15-17 per cent.”

Councillors Rachel Eden, Micky Leng and Alice Mpofu-Coles, all Labour representatives for Whitley ward at the entrance to the temporary Whitley Wood Community Centre in Lexington Grove. Credit: Reading Labour

An example of a council housing project being completed in 2023/24 was the Arthur Hill Pool site, where the old swimming pool was transformed into a place for 15 affordable rental flats run by the council.

Back in July last year, the council completed a development of 37 homes at a former car park at the junction of North Street and Weldale Street.

Cllr Leng (Labour, Whitley) said:  “We’ve seen a steady growth in affordable, we want more, but we’ve only got a finite amount of land in Reading so it’s important that we get as much affordable, and take every opportunity to get as much as affordable homes as possible.”

Housebuilders are able to provide less than 30 per cent of a development as affordable if they provide information that the development would be economically unviable to deliver.

Instead, developers must enter into a legal agreement with the council to pay for off-site affordable housing.

The 1,021 homes completed is 332 above the target of 689 homes within the council’s Local Plan, and an increase from the already high level of 888 homes delivered in 2022-23.

Statistics also show that 1,644 homes were under construction, and 1,460 homes had planning permission ready for developers to implement.

However, a substantial 1,000 of those granted planning permission were for one site, the Reading Station Shopping Park in Vastern Road.

In March this year, the development was approved by government ministers despite objections from the council and a planning appeal inspector.

The council has previously faced criticism for the lack of affordable homes being delivered, with opposition Green councillors calling the progress slow.

Cllr Dave McElroy (Green, Redlands) said: “Time and time again we see the majority Labour planning committee wave through new developments with little affordable housing.”

Dave McElroy, who was re-elected as a Green councillor for the Redlands ward. Credit: James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporting Service

Last year’s annual planning monitoring report for 2022/23 showed that 135 homes completed were designated affordable.

The amount of affordable homes delivered in 2023/24 was therefore 89 more than those delivered in the previous year.