The table below shows housing completion data since 2001. You will see that 1,694 homes have been built in Felixstowe and the Trimley’s since 2001 or approx. 15% of Suffolk Coastal’s overall total of 11,205. We have used data up to 2023 as we haven’t published the 2024 data yet.
The three Parishes shown in the map below have a combined population of approx. 30,000 while the Suffolk Coastal Region has approx. 130,000 people. Therefore Felixstowe and the Trimley’s contain approximately 24% of the local plan areas population. This calculation shows that the number of housing completions over the past two decades is roughly comensurate with the regions proportion of Suffolk Coastal's overall population if not slightly lower.
Delivery in Felixstowe and the Trimley’s has been relatively low since the turn of the millennium but has increased over the last few years due to a number of large sites coming forward such as Trelawny Place and North Walton. The table shows the completion of all new dwellings (includes new build, conversions, windfalls and allocated sites etc) in the Parishes’ of Felixstowe, Trimley St Martin and Trimley St Mary for each financial year since 2001/02 as well as providing the Suffolk Coastal total underneath. The data has been taken from here: Housing Completions by Parish from 2001 | East Suffolk Council 1 (arcgis.com)
Please note that the table shows completions since the 1st April 2001 with many of these years being before the current Suffolk Coastal Local Plan plan period which began in 2018. Accordingly, the completions before the plan period did not contribute to the housing need as established in the current Suffolk Coastal Local Plan.
The Suffolk Coastal Local Plan 2020 identifies where and how growth should be delivered for the former Suffolk Coastal part of East Suffolk district. Felixstowe, given its size, services and employment opportunities is deemed to be a major centre within the settlement hierarchy of the Local Plan and is expected to provide a greater proportion of the Local Plan growth than smaller settlements. Felixstowe is the largest town in the plan area and has significant opportunities for future economic growth supported by the Port of Felixstowe, associated industries, and tourism.
The permissions and allocations within the Local Plan reflect the town’s status as a major centre. Some sites came forward that were not allocated within the Local Plan - these are known as windfall sites and the Local Plan provides for and anticipates some windfall development coming forward through its criteria-based policies (for example development within the existing built-up area) in addition to the allocations.
The Local Planning Authority is in the process of finalising an Infrastructure Delivery Plan for the Felixstowe Region which will look at the next ten years of expected housing growth to help plan out the delivery of key infrastruture. When this has been published we will post an analysis here.
For further information regarding the progress of allocated sites please see the Planning Dashboard Planning delivery dashboard (arcgis.com).