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Paying for a home · new homes

New homes in Portsmouth

8 schemes could add up to about 5,114 homes. Only about 1,459 have permission today. The council counted 308 new homes in three years against 2,702 needed.

A researched shortlist of substantial schemes, not every planning application. Checked 10 November 2026. Planned totals are not completions. Where figures could not be confirmed they are marked “Reported” or “Not found”.

1 · How close are they?

From plan to front door

Homes by stage, nearest to being lived in first. Schemes are not added to the allocation they sit inside.

  • Under constructionVictory Quay, St James Park, Southsea835+
  • Permission grantedFormer St James’ Hospital: Vistry and Abri, Somers Orchard, Somerstown624
  • Resolution to grantFraser Range, Eastney134
  • Awaiting a decisionBellway site, Tipner East221
  • Preferred partner chosenCity Centre North2,300
  • Local Plan allocationTipner West1,000
  • Total across all 8 schemesPlanned homes, not homes built; schemes inside an allocation are counted once5,114+

City Centre North is counted at the masterplan’s “up to 2,300”; the council told the Local Plan inspectors in September 2026 that about 1,600 is more realistic. A “+” means a scheme has no combined total. Somers Orchard’s 566 homes replace 272 lost, which is about 294 extra if all are replaced (our calculation, not the council’s).

2 · The schemes

Which could I buy or rent?

Choose what you are looking for.

Victory Quay (VIVID)835 homes plannedUnder construction Shared ownership planned or advertisedBeing built out. The council told the Local Plan inspectors in September 2026 that the scheme is nearing Phase 2 of an 8-phase programme, with the sea defences and primary road layout already installed. VIVID expected first homes in late 2026; treat that as an estimate, because no completion has been verified.Details and evidence Bellway site, Tipner East221 homes plannedAwaiting a decision No buying route found yetThe council register shows application 21/01357/FUL as awaiting decision. An earlier committee resolution to grant (pending a legal agreement) is not the same as an issued permission.Details and evidence Former St James’ Hospital: Vistry and Abri (Locks Reach)58 homes plannedPermission granted Shared ownership planned or advertisedApproved 8 August 2025; condition details approved 17 October 2025. Abri expected a spring 2026 start, first homes in winter 2026 and final handovers in 2027; actual commencement not verified.Details and evidence St James Park, Southsea (PJ Livesey)Total not published Under construction Full-price homes for saleDevelopment has been under way for several years; PJ Livesey reportedly bought the land in January 2019. Show homes are open. The precise construction start was not verified.Details and evidence Somers Orchard, Somerstown566 homes plannedPermission granted Rental homes (not for sale)Committee approval August 2024 (council page); decision notices issued 2 December 2025 (planning register, reported). In February 2026 the council began seeking a first-phase contractor, aiming for completion by 2030. First-phase construction expected 2027 (reported).Details and evidence City Centre North2,300 homes in the masterplanPreferred partner chosen No buying route found yetEnglish Cities Fund selected as preferred regeneration partner in August 2026 to develop a business case; no development agreement verified. The council proposed moving first completions to 2029/30.Details and evidence Fraser Range, Eastney134 homes plannedResolution to grant No buying route found yetInvest Portsmouth and a January 2025 statement of common ground describe a resolution to grant, with the Section 106 agreement being finalised. A Vail Williams case study and the BBC describe it as approved. Sources disagree; the issued decision notice and signed agreement need checking on the council register.Details and evidence Tipner West1,000 homes of capacityLocal Plan allocation No buying route found yetUnder Local Plan examination. The council described a funding shortfall of around £107m for an appraised option and said delivery could not be certain.Details and evidence

Tipner East and St James’ and Langstone are larger allocations that contain schemes above. See the allocations.

3 · First-time buyers

What to ask

Shared ownership is the clearest buying route found. Your First Home is expected from 2027 and its developers are not yet published.

  • Which plots are available, what is the full price, and what share must I buy?
  • What are the monthly rent and service charge, and when will homes complete?
  • Are any homes specifically for social rent, and is there a local-connection rule?
  • Will the developer join Your First Home, and is any plot a designated First Homes plot?

The gap to buying, and the schemes that help →

4 · What more homes could do

Relief, and new pressure

Where more homes could help

Portsmouth’s housing test result is 11%: few homes are being finished. More homes can ease the pressure behind these problems, though no source here shows how much.

Where they add pressure

Thousands more households will need doctors, school places and road space. Most of the city is on Portsea Island, with few ways in and out (council transport strategy).

No published count of parking spaces against permits or demand was found for the city. That is a gap, not a zero.

What is secured? We could not verify any school, SEND or GP obligation as legally secured: 24 of 24 checks across the 8 schemes came back empty. That is a gap in what is published, not proof that none exists. Planning can require contributions or works through Section 106 agreements and the Community Infrastructure Levy. A promised contribution, money paid, money allocated and a finished facility are four different things. Our proposal: a promised-and-delivered tracker →

How developer payments are shared

Portsmouth allocates 80% of Community Infrastructure Levy receipts to strategic infrastructure, 15% to local neighbourhood priorities and up to 5% to administration (25% neighbourhood share where a qualifying neighbourhood plan applies). These are allocation rules, not a promise that money from one estate funds a service beside it.

Developer payments across the whole city, 2024/25

The council’s Infrastructure Funding Statement covers 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. It gives city totals only, not a figure for each scheme.

  • Community Infrastructure Levy: £1,725,245 was invoiced and £1,114,568 was received. £3,946,194 was spent, which can include money collected in earlier years.
  • Section 106 agreements: £1,893,743 was promised in agreements signed in the year, £116,881 was received and £255,376 was spent. 4 affordable homes and no school places were agreed through obligations in the year.

These are city totals. No scheme-by-scheme table of what is required, paid or delivered is published; any sums quoted for individual schemes elsewhere on this site are figures reported at planning or committee stage, not audited receipts or spend, and are not in this statement.

Portsmouth City Council: Infrastructure Funding Statement 2024/25 ↗ (read from an archived copy of the same document, because the council site refuses automated downloads) · retrieved 2026-11-11

5 · Who gets the money

Land, public money and developers

Only some of this is public. Sales revenue is not profit, and a land sale price is not the council’s net gain.

What is published about land and public money, by scheme
SchemeWho owns the landPublic money and land deals
Victory Quay (VIVID)Present registered owner of the whole site not verified. Being the developer does not establish legal ownership. Not foundNo land price, site-specific grant or council profit share found. Barclays says its wider lending to VIVID exceeds £300 million; that is not a loan for this scheme. Not found
Bellway site, Tipner EastHomes England is named as a promoter; the registered owner is not verified. Not foundNo purchase or disposal price, grant or developer return found. Not found
Former St James’ Hospital: Vistry and Abri (Locks Reach)Abri reports Vistry bought the land from Homes England and forward-sold all 58 homes to Abri. A current Land Registry search would establish the registered title. ReportedHomes England grant through Abri’s strategic partnership is being combined with Abri’s investment. Land price, grant amount, build price and profit are not disclosed. Reported
St James Park, Southsea (PJ Livesey)Reported bought by PJ Livesey in 2019; current title for a plot should be checked. ReportedNo public grant, council land receipt or profit figure found. Not found
Somers Orchard, SomerstownCouncil-promoted; ownership of the three related sites should be confirmed. ReportedA July 2025 account described a £120 million scheme partly financed by selling council land for the build-to-rent block, with applications split to access Homes England grant. These are 2025 intentions and estimates; the current budget, sale price, grant and borrowing are not verified. Reported
City Centre NorthThe council has assembled substantial ownership; some parcels need title-level checking. ReportedThe partnership covers masterplanning, viability and a business case. No agreed land price, rent, profit share, subsidy or construction budget is published. Not found
Fraser Range, EastneyInvestin Plc identified as landowner. ReportedNo public land receipt or grant found. Not found
Tipner WestThe council says it secured full ownership in January 2024; existing leasehold and occupation arrangements need checking. ReportedThe wider £48.75 million City Deal is associated with exploring Tipner and Horsea regeneration. That is not £48.75 million spent on these homes; allocation, drawdown, spend and recovery need a separate reconciliation. Reported

Somers Orchard is the clearest case: a 2025 account says the council intended to use the sale of land for the private build-to-rent block to help pay for the affordable homes. At Fraser Range the planning agent said infrastructure costs meant the 2024 proposal could not include affordable housing. Neither shows the final figures.

The Community Infrastructure Levy, signed Section 106 agreements, land titles and the council’s land decisions are the records that would settle this.

6 · Energy

Do new homes have solar panels and heat pumps?

Not automatically. The Future Homes Standard regulations are due to come into force on 24 March 2027 with transitional arrangements; whether they apply to a building depends on its building-control application and commencement dates. Solar panels, heat pumps or an A-rated certificate do not by themselves show compliance, and compliance does not require a heat pump in every flat.

The allocations

Larger areas these schemes sit inside

Tipner East allocation1,056 homes in the allocationLocal Plan allocation total. It equals the two schemes below (835 + 221 = 1,056), which the BBC reports as separate and additional to each other.Details →St James’ and Langstone Campus allocation405 homes in the allocationAllocation paper: about 417 dwellings, 12 completed before the plan period, 405 in the plan period. Parcels above are part of this campus; do not add them to it.Details →

What is still missing

Documents that would close the gaps

  1. Land: title plans, the council’s land-disposal decisions and prices, lease terms, overage and profit-sharing clauses.
  2. Public funding: grants awarded and paid, council capital spending and borrowing, remediation and infrastructure costs.
  3. Developer obligations: signed Section 106 agreements and variations; Community Infrastructure Levy owed, paid and spent.
  4. Local services: school, SEND and NHS assessments, funded projects and delivery dates.
  5. Energy: approved energy statements and plot-by-plot specifications.

A researched shortlist of substantial schemes, not a register of every planning application. States of evidence: checked, reported, derived, not-found. Parent allocations are never added to their child schemes. Planning references are reported from the council register, which blocks scripted access.