Belfast·SPG001 Affordable Housing and Housing Mix·Page 31·4.3.1, 4.3.2
Need for smaller homes and housing mix requirements
Development must provide a suitable mix of accommodation types and sizes, with emphasis on smaller homes for different household types. Belfast requires an overall split of 30% flats/apartments to 70% houses, and 40% properties with 2 bedrooms or less to 60% with 3+ bedrooms.
Policy HOU6 emphasises the need for future development to comprise accommodation suitable for smaller household types, with apartments and terrace house types expected to be the most in demand. Importantly, smaller homes like these are also more sustainable and represent a more efficient use of land.
The Plan Strategy sets out an overall housing mix requirement for Belfast over the plan period, which can be summarised as a 30:70 split of flats/apartments to houses and a split of 40:60 of properties with 2 bedrooms or less to those with at least 3 bedrooms. This can be further broken down as shown in Figure 4.1:
Size of unit | % of new homes required in Belfast | Typical type of home based on size of unit: % House | % Flat
1 bed | 15 | 14 | 86
2 bed | 28 | 60 | 40
3 bed | 42 | 96 | 4
4+ bed | 15 | 92 | 8
Source — /Users/richardhill/Documents/planning-arch-project/data/documents/belfast/SPG001 Affordable Housing and Housing Mix.pdf