Enough: close the loophole that lets developers walk away from affordable housing
This is my first submission for the NewcastleGateshead Plan:
Submitted by Councillor Alistair Chisholm, Green Party, Ouseburn Ward, and Disability Champion, Newcastle City Council. 29 July 2026.
Introduction
I welcome the opportunity to respond to the scoping consultation for the new Newcastle and Gateshead Local Plan. As an early stage in the process, this consultation is an important chance to set the right direction for the plan, and I am responding both in my capacity as a ward councillor for Ouseburn and to reflect concerns raised directly with me by residents. In developing this response I have drawn on the work of Shelter, in particular its North East hub, a highly respected housing organisation, as well as on the concerns raised directly with me by local residents. The plan will shape housing, transport, green space and community wellbeing across the city for the next fifteen years, and it is vital that it prioritises the homes our communities genuinely need.
A clear and measurable target for social rent homes
My central ask is that the Local Plan sets a clear, measurable target for homes at social rent, the most genuinely affordable form of housing, backed by stronger requirements on developers. The scale of the shortfall is stark. Drawing on figures highlighted by Shelter, over the ten years from 2015/16 to 2024/25, Newcastle recorded around 12,200 net additional homes, alongside just 146 Social Rent completions—equivalent to around 1.2% of net additions. This does not come close to meeting the level of need in our city. The Local Plan should commit to a step change, with a specific social rent target and clear mechanisms to hold developers to account for delivering it.
Closing the viability loophole
There is particular concern in Ouseburn about the Lime Street development, where the affordable housing requirement was reduced to zero following a viability assessment. This is not an isolated case; other developments, including in Ouseburn, have secured approval with little or no affordable housing on similar grounds. The Local Plan should include stronger commitments to social rent and tighter policies on viability, so that affordable housing requirements cannot repeatedly be negotiated away. This would make it much harder for this pattern to continue in future.
Protecting permanent homes from short-term lets and apartment-hotel conversions
Residents in Sandyford and elsewhere have raised serious concerns with me about the cumulative impact of recent and proposed developments. These include an application to demolish the former Northern Sinfonia building for housing, and a growing trend of family homes being converted into apartment hotels and short-term holiday lets, following the precedent set by conversions such as the Chelmsford Lofts. There is a real risk that neighbourhoods near the city centre are hollowed out, with knock-on impacts on schools and local businesses. The Local Plan should include stronger planning policies that prioritise permanent residents and genuinely affordable homes, both near the city centre and across the city as a whole, rather than housing developed primarily as short-term or investment accommodation.
Accessible housing and developer accountability
Finally, accessible housing should be treated as standard rather than as an afterthought, so that disabled residents and those with changing needs are properly served by new development. Across all of these areas, the plan should build in real accountability, ensuring that commitments made at the point of approval are carried through and delivered.
Yours sincerely
Councillor Alistair Chisholm
You can keep up to date on information about the Local Plan here - https://ng-local-plan.commonplace.is/