Land for 155 new homes across Ayr, Prestwick and Troon has been added to South Ayrshire Council’s plans.
It comes as the local authority says it will take a decade to clear a waiting list of more than 1,300 households needing new housing.
Six new tranches of land have been designated as part of South Ayrshire Council’s proposed Local Development Plan 2.
There are currently more than 1,328 households in need of new housing, a waiting list that will take a decade to clear.
The council has estimated a need for between 1536 and 1762 houses – both private and social housing – will be needed by 2040, between 190 and 210 every year.
The sites, and indicative number of houses, included in the proposed Local Development Plan, which has been submitted to the Scottish Government.
They are:
- Dunlop Terrace, Ayr – 10 homes
- Westwood Avenue, Ayr -25 homes
- Afton Avenue and Afton Park, Prestwick – 25 homes
- St Cuthbert Golf Club, Prestwick – 45 homes
- Aldersyde Avenue, Troon – 20 homes
- Buchan Road, Troon – 30 homes
In three of the areas earmarked for housing, children’s play areas will require to be relocated – at Dunlop Terrace and Westwood Avenue in Ayr, and Buchan Road in Troon.
Under the new plan, bike parking and open spaces are included across the sites.
In Westwood Avenue a community garden at Overmills Community Centre would be included.
At Afton Avenue and Afton Park, Prestwick, the proposed plan states that open space will be upgraded, and a outdoor gym and children’s play area would be installed.
Troon’s Aldersyde Avenue would also see an outdoor gym and informal play provision, while Buchan Road would have a communal garden around the Burns Road and Scott Crescent flats.
These new sites add to a comprehensive allocation of land for housing, adopted in the current LDP in 2014. This provided for 1864 new homes.
The council’s housing needs assessment breaks the figures into the types of accommodation it believes will be required.
Every year, the assessment states, up to 79 owner-occupier, 69, private rented, 55 social rented, and seven mid-market rented properties will be required.
The council say it will take a decade to clear the 1,328 households currently in need of new housing, not taking into account any future demands on South Ayrshire’s housing stock.
A number of criteria are used to determine the number of households with a housing need, namely, homeless or in temporary accommodation, overcrowded households, wheelchair users in unsuitable homes, those who need ground floor accommodation and those in poor quality housing.
In its housing needs assessment, the council states: “While existing need could theoretically be addressed in 8-10 years based on anticipated [housing] site starts, we believe it would be more prudent to set a period of 10-12 years to clear Existing Need.”
South Ayrshire also has a higher average age and also has an estimated 46 percent of households having someone who is either long term sick or disabled – impacting on the type of housing they need.
The assessment does not take account of demolitions, such as the proposed replacement of the Riverside Place flats, commitment to support refugee programmes or other situations that may influence the needs in the future.
The inclusion of the new housing release sites ties into the council’s duty to maintain a clear ‘five year supply of housing to meet demand’.
The LDP 2 proposal would also require anyone seeking to build a non-housing development on these sites to show they would have environmental, economic or social benefits or encourage regeneration.
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