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EB13: Housing mix

    The mix of housing types and tenure on new housing proposals should have regard to and be informed by evidence of housing needs, including the current East Boldon Housing Needs Assessment (2019) and South Tyneside Strategic Housing Market Assessment (2015) and any subsequent updates. The only exception will be where the proposal is designed to meet a specific and identified housing need, which requires a particular type, format or tenure of housing.


    A key role for the plan is to provide a policy framework to support the provision of a mix of  homes to meet local needs. The HNA provides evidence to illustrate the required mix of new homes across the plan area:
    • Home ownership is the most common tenure in the plan area, whilst privately rented homes have increased their share significantly between 2001 and 2011 – this suggests a rising demand for rented properties and also that there should be a greater emphasis on delivering homes for private rent and shared ownership;
    • There is a lower proportion of one person households compared to South Tyneside as a whole and of these, a substantial proportion are aged 65 and over. The recommended housing split for new dwellings is:
    o 1 bedroom – 26%;
    o 2 bedrooms – 42%;
    o 3 bedrooms – 32%;
    o 4+ bedrooms – 0%.
    • The current provision of specialist accommodation for the elderly is not sufficient to meet the needs of the projected elderly population. There is a need to deliver an additional 64 bed spaces to 2031.

    The HNS asked the local community for feedback on a number of issues including:
    • Whether there was a need to adapt their property to accommodate someone with a disability, of the 89 respondents who answered this question, 9 answered yes;
    • If respondents considered there was a need for new housing in East Boldon, of those that responded to this question 26 people answered yes and 22 people answered no. The main reasons for more housing to be developed were: the need for affordable housing; to attract more young people and families;
    • Whether anyone in the household was planning to move in the next 5 years – 28 respondents answered yes. The types of accommodation that were identified were: detached, semi-detached, terraced, bungalow, flat, and retirement flat. With the majority looking for owner occupied property; and
    • The reasons for people moving away from East Boldon included: house prices, lack of schools and employment.

    Policy EB13 therefore seeks to ensure that a range and choice of housing is available by requiring a mix of house sizes, types and tenures to be provided through new development. An important element of the assessment of current housing needs is set out within the East Boldon Housing Needs Assessment (2019), housing needs survey and the South Tyneside Strategic Housing Market Assessment (2015). These should be used to guide decisions on planning applications. Policy EB13 requires consideration of the need for particular housing types as part of the consideration of development proposals, helping to deliver plan objectives 1 and 5.