Fareham's planning committee backed 242 homes off Brook Lane and Lockswood Road in Warsash with 38 affordable homes, not the 97 policy requires. Here is why.
Fareham’s planning committee has backed two housing schemes in Warsash, for up to 242 homes, with far fewer affordable homes than the borough’s own policy asks for. The two sites would provide 38 affordable homes between them. A policy-compliant 40% would have been 97.
The schemes are on land east of Brook Lane (up to 180 homes) and land west of Lockswood Road (up to 62 homes). Both applications are from Brook Lane Homes Ltd, and they went before the committee on Wednesday 7 October.
The council’s planning register now records both as “Planning Committee has resolved to grant permission” (Brook Lane, P/17/0845/OA; Lockswood Road, P/18/0590/OA). Formal permission still waits on a signed section 106 legal agreement. The register gives 30 October as the target date for both.
What changed
Both sites had already been approved in principle, with 40% affordable housing.
- Brook Lane: the committee first resolved to grant in October 2018, and a further resolution followed in July 2024.
- Lockswood Road: the committee resolved to grant in November 2022 and again in April 2024.
Neither permission was ever issued. The officer reports blame “very protracted negotiations” over the section 106 agreement, which needed several landowners to agree. Some of them doubted the schemes could pay for 40% affordable housing.
In October 2025 the applicant’s viability consultant, Turner Morum, said neither site could afford any affordable housing and still make money. The council hired its own consultant, Aspinall Verdi, to check the figures. After quantity surveyors went through the build costs, the two sides settled on:
| Site | Homes | Policy (40%) | Now agreed | Tenure agreed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East of Brook Lane | up to 180 | 72 | 20 (11%) | 10 affordable rent, 10 shared ownership |
| West of Lockswood Road | up to 62 | 25 | 18 (29%) | 7 affordable rent, 11 shared ownership |
Neither tenure mix includes social rent. Local Plan policy HP5 asks for at least 10% social rent on sites like these, and the officer reports say plainly that the mixes do not accord with it (Brook Lane officer report; Lockswood Road officer report).
Why the numbers fell
The biggest single factor is the cost of preparing the ground. When the sites were allocated in the Local Plan, the council’s viability work assumed infrastructure and “abnormal” costs of about £10,000 a home. That work was done before the Covid pandemic.
The council’s own consultant now puts those costs at:
- Brook Lane: about £57,900 a home, or £10,426,000 in total, against £1.8 million assumed
- Lockswood Road: about £18,400 a home, or £1,140,800, against £620,000 assumed
The Brook Lane report names what drives it. There is the new road access off Brook Lane and a large underground tank to store surface water. There is also on-site wildlife habitat work, accessible homes, and materials to match the Bargate Homes estate next door.
The council did win some ground in the talks. The applicant accepted a developer profit of 17.5% rather than 20%, and lower allowances for external works. The two sides split the difference on land value at £12,500 an acre.
A second look once the homes sell
Both legal agreements will carry a “viability review”. Once 75% of the homes are sold, and before 85% are occupied, the developer must submit its actual costs and sale prices.
If the schemes turn out more profitable than forecast, the developer pays the council a sum towards affordable homes elsewhere in the borough. It is capped at £2,972,044 for Brook Lane and £567,905 for Lockswood Road. Those caps are what it would cost to make up the shortfall to 40%.
Any such money would be spent elsewhere in Fareham, not on these two sites.
What else the developer pays
At Brook Lane, the recommended terms include:
- £600,000 towards education
- £537,685 towards highways
- £75,000 for a schools travel plan
- £70,000 for a play area, plus £38,000 to maintain it
At Lockswood Road the education contribution is £163,533 and highways £180,000.
The council’s update report added one condition to both. Approval is subject to any comments from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board about GP and primary care provision (update report).
The objections
When the Brook Lane scheme was first advertised in 2018 it drew 305 letters of objection and one of support. A petition signed by 2,390 people called on the council to stop 1,500 new homes across Warsash, Locks Heath, Park Gate and Titchfield Common.
At that time the land was countryside. It has since been allocated for housing in the Fareham Local Plan 2037, as part of allocation HA1, north and south of Greenaway Lane. The Lockswood Road report says no new letters have arrived since the committee last resolved to grant.
Also decided at the same meeting
Salterns Working Men’s Club, 43 Newtown Road, Warsash. Plans to demolish the club and build four detached houses were approved, with the decision dated 9 October (P/26/0905/FP). The club stopped trading in November 2024. The officer report says bookings had declined and Victory Hall in Warsash is available for community use (officer report).
Land behind River View, Brook Avenue, Warsash. Three four-bedroom houses on an overgrown wooded plot were refused, with the decision dated 8 October (P/26/0060/FP). Officers had recommended approval. The refusal reasons are not yet on the register. The application drew 22, then 21, then six letters across three rounds of consultation (officer report).
What it means for you
- Nothing is built yet. Both housing schemes are outline permissions. The layout and look of the homes come later, in “reserved matters” applications that you can comment on.
- If you are waiting for an affordable home in Warsash, these two sites will provide 38, none of them at social rent.
- If you live on Brook Lane or Lockswood Road, the two sites take their road access from those roads.
- To follow it, search the references above on the council’s planning case tracker. Our Fareham planning news page tracks the borough’s bigger schemes.
Sources
- Fareham Borough Council Planning Committee, agenda for 7 October 2026, with the officer reports and update report linked above.
- Fareham Borough Council planning case tracker, for the status and decision dates of each application, read on 12 October 2026.
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