‘Radical’ national house building scheme sparks fears for the future of Winchester

By 2038, Winchester faces an extra 2,400 homes being built in the district under new government proposal.

Many locations within the city such as South Winchester Golf Club and St Peter’s Car Park face closure in order to make room for these new homes.

This proposal has been brought about with the goal of increasing the number of houses across the country, the government has declared that 300,000 homes are to built nationally each year.

A standard formula is being used to calculate the housing numbers allocated to each local authority. Winchester’s housing numbers are likely to increase by around 70% above the current annual housing rate of 200 each year.

Campaign groups have expressed their concern about the affect more houses will have on the compact nature of Winchester.

Chairman of CPRE Hampshire, Dee Haas told Winol : “We are very worried that the changes will reduce the availability of affordable housing in Hampshire even more than at present.

“The proposals could also deny local people a voice when deciding what goes where in their neighbourhoods and importantly, the proposals do nothing to address the Climate Emergency.” 

John Beveridge, City of Winchester Trust Trustee told Winol: “The proposals are radical and far reaching if they are implemented as proposed. The Trust is extremely concerned about the effect many more houses will have on Winchester and we have objected to this.

“This would affect the compact nature of the city, could affect its landscape setting, increase an already traffic congested road network, and strain other aspects of all the facilities valued in the city.”