New dwellings built on previously developed land

• 70% of all new and converted dwellings were built on previously developed land in 2007/2008, a slight reduction on 72% in 2006/2007.

The South West Regional Spatial Strategy seeks to achieve at least 50% of new housing development on previously development land (PDL), including the conversion of existing buildings.

This figure is lower than that identified for England as a whole by Planning Policy Statement 3, which aims to reach a national target of more than 60% of all new dwellings on PDL.  This reflects the relatively low availability of PDL in the South West.

All County and Unitary Authorities within the region achieved a land recycling rate above the RPG 50% target, during 2007/08, compared with 75% in the period 2004/05 (SWRA 2008). Completions on allocated non-PDL are increasing at a faster rate than completions on allocated PDL.

73% of all new build in the South West was built on PDL in 2007/08, which represents a rate that has been fairly steady since 2003 (SWRA 2008). Levels of provision on PDL before this period were much lower with just over 30% of all completions being located on brownfield sites in 1996.

• South West Annual Monitoring Report 2008

• South West Observatory Planning module