NEW affordable home builds in Dorset this year could be below target – with some of the blame being put on the pandemic.

Housing portfolio holder for Dorset Council, Councillor Graham Carr-Jones, says that despite the problem developers are trying to catch up and he hopes for another 200 affordable properties by the end of March.

Lib Dem group leader Councillor Nick Ireland says any shortfall is a cause for concern and claims the target figure of 300 affordable homes a year across the county is not enough to make a dent in demand at a time when around 5,000 households are on the waiting list.

He says the matter is being made worse by constant applications from developers to reduce the level of affordable housing in schemes which have already been agreed.

“As a member of one of this council’s planning committees, I observe that most of our meetings have at least one item asking for a reduction or the complete removal of the provision for affordable housing in a development previously approved,” he said.

Cllr Carr-Jones says that 114 new homes were delivered in Dorset in the first six months of the financial year and he was hopeful of another 200 by the end of March – although said that Covid and Brexit could yet impact that figure.

He said local schemes under way include Poundbury, Cuthbury Close in Wimborne, Flaxfield Rise in Beaminster, Curtis Field in Weymouth, Lower Road in Stalbridge, Compass Point in Swanage and the Platinum Skies development for affordable home ownership for older people in Sherborne.

He said recently completed all affordable schemes include 36 homes in Mosterton and 20 homes in Longburton with others in the pipeline at Beaminster, Stalbridge, Blandford, Gillingham, Okeford Fitzpaine, Sherborne and Weymouth which will include a mix of rented and shared ownership housing.

“The council will continue to work with registered providers to increase the number of developments coming forward. These sites will combine with homes delivered through planning policy on open market developments, rural exception sites and community led housing schemes to ensure a positive pipeline of schemes,” he said.

He told Cllr Ireland that in schemes where developers claimed it was not viable to produce affordable homes the evidence was always checked by an independent assessor.

“Viability issues will also be tested through the process of preparing the new Local Plan, reducing the likelihood of viability arguments on applications being successful other than in exceptional cases,” he told this week’s Cabinet meeting.