Falkirk Council announces plans to build more than 6,000 new homes within a decade

Falkirk will see more than 6,000 new houses built over ten years if a new local development plan becomes reality – although housebuilders want to see at least five times that amount.

Members of Falkirk Council heard that the local authority is obliged by the Scottish Government to identify land for at least 5,250 new homes to be built over the next decade.

However, council chiefs say they want to be even more ambitious and believe 6,100 homes is an achievable target.

Falkirk’s central location already makes it attractive to commuters but the council expects that many more people will be attracted to the area by job opportunities promised by the Falkirk Growth Deal and Forth Green Freeport.

The Growth Deal projects – which will start to get under way soon – are expected to create up to 2,000 jobs for the area over the next ten years, while it is hoped that Forth Green Freeport will bring 20,000 jobs to Grangemouth.

Michael McGuinness, Falkirk Council’s head of growth, planning and climate change told members of Falkirk Council that over the last ten years, the area has delivered an average of 467 houses each year.

He added that the council recognises the housing crisis that is affecting Scotland, so it was right to look at how they can encourage more homes being built for people in the area.

Mr McGuinness said: “We have a separate group of officers in Future Falkirk looking at even greater ambition for how many homes we can bring to the area.

He made his comments as councillors approved the draft of the evidence report that will help to shape the new local development plan.

Councillor Paul Garner, SNP spokesperson for economic development, said 6,100 new homes was “an ambitious yet achievable target”, which recognises the housing crisis and the economic opportunities ahead for Falkirk.

The report will now be submitted to the Scottish Government for approval.

But the 6,100 is actually a low estimate, according to the group that represents housebuilders, Homes For Scotland (HfS), which will submit its own report to the government.

HfS has commissioned research that has calculated a need for 29,541 homes to be built over the ten-year period.

Whichever figure is accepted, the next stage for the council is a call for sites that could be approved for housing.

Mr McGuinness confirmed that some greenbelt sites will almost certainly be part of the mix but these have not yet been identified.

Many of the homes that will make the 6,100 will be on sites that have already been identified as part of the current local development plan.

Local development plans (LDPs) work with national guidelines to guide the use and development of land within an area, and indicate where investment in housing, business, leisure and infrastructure will take place over the plan period.

The council’s current plan (LDP2) was adopted in August 2020 but it must be kept up-to-date and refreshed.

Producing an evidence report is a new stage in the process, providing information that will be used to realise the plan.

The information gathered includes things such as schools and health service capacity but members were assured that these issues will be looked at again in more detail as sites are being identified.