New figures reveal the total number of new houses built in Bristol

New figures reveal exactly how many homes have been built in Bristol in the last four years.

Before being elected in May 2016, mayor Marvin Rees pledged to build 2,000 new homes a year – 800 of them affordable – by 2020.

In reality, between 1,350 and 1,994 homes were completed each year in Bristol in the four years from 2016/17 to 2019/20, according to new information from Bristol City Council.

Of those, between 188 and 312 each year were affordable, according to figures provided by housing officers in September.

When the affordable housing figures were released, the mayor’s office said the wording of his 2016 election pledge meant the council would build up to the promised housing targets over the next four years and reach them by 2020, not necessarily before.

The council had just revised its target for affordable housing for 2020/21 down to 500, saying it would realistically build fewer than 400 due to the effects of the pandemic.

Rees defended the council’s housing record at the time, saying the ambition for 800 affordable new homes was “always a stretch” and that the council had built more than any other previous City Hall administration.

Mayor Marvin Rees pledged to build 2,000 new homes a year in 2016. Photo: CB Bristol Design

However, the new figures together with those reported in September show that during the past 12 years, the most successful in terms of house building were under previous administrations in 2008/09 and 2009/10.

The council was under Labour minority control for the first ten months of 2008/09 until the administration resigned in February 2009 and the Liberal Democrats regained power.

A total of 2,574 new homes – 583 affordable – were completed in Bristol in 2008/09, and 2,189 – 510 affordable – were finished the following year.

The latest figures were provided in a report to the most recent meeting of the council’s growth and regeneration scrutiny commission on January 28.

The report shows the total number of houses, including student flats, completed each year in Bristol ranged from 878 to 2,574 over the 12 years from 2008/09 to 2019/20.

The Liberal Democrats had majority control of the council from 2009 to 2011, when they lost their majority leading to a hung council.

No one party had overall control of the council for the next five years until Labour came to power in May 2016.

Explaining the gap between housing targets and what was actually built, a housing officer cited “optimism bias”.

“Reviewing previous years housing completions and actions and activity that have been initiated by the council since the creation of the 2017-2020 Housing Delivery Plan, it was perceived that housing delivery figures would grow year on year, reaching the target of 2,000 new homes a year would be attainable by 2020/21,” the officer wrote in the report.

“This optimism is based upon the trend set by completions in previous years, but did not take in outside factors such as Brexit.

“The completions figure for 2019/20 is lower than expected and the industry considers that there are continuing uncertainties related to Brexit.”

Between 1,350 and 1,994 homes were completed each year between 2016 and 2020. Photo: Lowie Trevena

The officer added: “Because the development of housing carries a level of risk and uncertainty, targets and projections are often subject to a level of ‘optimism bias’ whereby the entities delivering affordable housing have good reason to believe that these numbers will be delivered but are not always aware of risks or other factors that might cause slippages or delays to their development programmes.

“The optimism bias is seen in both affordable and general housing delivery across the city.”

Affordable homes are mostly built on so-called “brownfield sites” – land that has been previously built on – with 84 per cent in this category last year and 92 per cent since 2006, the report adds.

“These completion figures include gross units created through dwelling conversions rather than just new builds,” it says.

Amanda Cameron is a local democracy reporter for Bristol.

Main photo: Bristol City Council

Read more: Rees: ‘We have made a real dent in the housing crisis we inherited’