The number of planning approvals for new homes through new developments or conversions on brownfield sites is rising.
Data from the Residential Land Availability Study 2022, a study that monitors the rate of housing delivery and land availability, indicates 809 are ready to be built, including brownfield. Of that number, past trends indicate that around 650 are expected to be fully realised.
These figures mark a steady increase in spite of the pandemic, and bring the number of development opportunities to levels not seen since prior to the recession in 2008.
Since the Residential Land Availability Study update for 2022 was published in June, the Manx Development Corporation has improved the picture further by starting work on the former Nurses Home in Douglas, an unoccupied urban site that will be transformed to provide 37 dwellings.
In addition, a private developer has received permission to build 23 new housing units in Jurby, and applications proposing hundreds more are working their way through the planning process.
Minister for the Cabinet Office Kate Lord-Brennan MHK said:
‘Housing is one of the key pillars of the Island Plan and I’m encouraged to see the number of approvals in place to build homes for our community is on the rise.
‘Establishing proposals for housing and enabling a smooth planning process are both key roles for Government - and looking long-term, this administration is putting the building blocks in place to support the creation of accessible, secure and affordable homes’.
