THE number of new homes being built in Ceredigion is falling short of the what the council says is required to satisfy demand.

Research by the Cambrian News shows that of the 687 new homes Ceredigion County Council said needed to be built between 2011 and 2016, only 574 — under 84 per cent — had been built.

The council’s Local Development Plan, adopted in 2013, set out the housing requirement of 2,060 new homes between 2011 and 2026.

This includes a requirement of 687 from 2011 to 2016, 770 between 2016 and 2021, and a further 599 from 2021 to 2026.

But Welsh Government data shows that not enough homes are currently being built in the county to fulfil the council’s target.

In the year-and-a-half since 2016, 244 new homes were built, which, assuming the same rate of building (813 new homes in total by 2021), would mean new builds surpass the 2016 to 2021 requirement but would not make up the 2011 to 2016 shortfall.

A developer who legitimately paid the council a ‘commuted sum’ to opt out of providing two ‘affordable’ homes, as reported by the Cambrian News, has told this paper why he believes not enough homes are being built in Ceredigion.

Ian Jones, of Rheidol Developments Ltd, said new-build homes designated ‘affordable’ — meaning they are generally sold at 30 per cent less than market value — under conditions attached to a section 106 agreement, are actually unaffordable to most people.

He claims this is because “very few” lenders are willing to provide a mortgage on homes designated ‘affordable’ in this way in Ceredigion, and that lenders who are require a “minimum” 20 per cent deposit.

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