Newbury planning: 317 homes, none of them affordable

West Berkshire adopted a Local Plan on 10 June 2025 after seven years and about £1.5 million of work. Fourteen months later the council has been obliged to start another one, because the government changed the sum that decides how many homes a district must plan for and the new answer is roughly double the old one.

Between those two facts, the biggest single planning decision Newbury town centre has seen in a generation was issued: 317 homes on the Kennet Centre site, with no affordable housing at all.

The Kennet Centre: 317 homes, permission issued 7 April 2026

Application 25/00391/FULMAJ, by Lochailort Newbury Ltd, was validated on 6 March 2025 and went to the Western Area Planning Committee on 10 September 2025, which resolved to grant it subject to a section 106 agreement. The decision notice was issued on 7 April 2026.

What it permits is the partial demolition of the Kennet Centre and its replacement with 317 dwellings at a density of about 144 homes per hectare, a mix of private sale and Build to Rent, alongside commercial floorspace, public realm, the retained Vue cinema block and an extra floor on the multi-storey car park. The officer’s report put the resident population at around 950.

The affordable housing figure is zero. The applicant’s viability case was that the scheme could not carry any, and the officer’s report concluded the absence was justified on that basis. The council’s own housing team disagreed in writing, saying they were “disappointed to see that affordable housing still remains unviable as the need for affordable housing in the District remains” and questioning whether the viability calculation had been tested properly. Councillors approved it anyway. Several said in the debate that the centre was “dead” or a “sad remnant” and that this was the best scheme the town was going to be offered, having already seen a larger 367-home version dismissed on appeal for being overly dominant on the skyline.

The highways package that came with it matters for anyone driving into town: 557 parking spaces in total, 80 on site and 477 in the enlarged multi-storey, a two-way cycle route on Bartholomew Street, new signal junctions, resurfacing and a £70,000 contribution to pedestrian routes towards the Market Street multi-storey. Officers told the committee that surveys showed the existing car park was underused and that more than 250 spaces would still be free on a busy Saturday. More on that in Newbury roadworks and parking.

The plan the district has now

The West Berkshire Local Plan Review 2023 to 2041 was adopted under duress. The Minister of State issued a Direction on 19 December 2023, after concerns the council might withdraw the plan from examination, requiring it to consider adopting the plan with whatever main modifications the Inspector thought necessary. That Direction was reaffirmed on 25 April 2025 and had not been withdrawn when the council voted.

The adopted plan requires a minimum of 9,270 homes between 2023 and 2041, an average of 515 a year, and identifies a supply of 9,493. It replaced the 2012 Core Strategy, the 2017 Housing Site Allocations document and the saved policies of the 1991 to 2006 local plan.

Two allocations dominate it.

North East Thatcham was modified during the examination from 1,500 homes to up to approximately 2,500, with a masterplan supplementary planning document required before it comes forward. It is the largest single commitment in the district.

Sandleford Park, on the southern edge of Newbury, already has permission. The Secretary of State allowed the appeal on 6 May 2022 and granted outline consent for up to 1,000 homes, plus 80 extra-care units, a two-form-entry primary school, expansion land for Park House Academy, a local centre, a new access onto Monks Lane and a country park. The scheme is now in the detail stage: applications in the last two years have covered the phasing plan, the urban design code, the country parkland landscape and management plan, the central valley crossing and reserved matters for the primary and secondary street network. The roads come before the houses.

Smaller allocations added at examination include 225 homes at Henwick Park, Bowling Green Road, Thatcham and 45 at the Regency Park Hotel on the same road.

The plan the district must now start

Here is the arithmetic that reopened everything. Under the standard method as revised in the December 2024 National Planning Policy Framework, West Berkshire’s local housing need is 1,057 homes a year. The adopted plan requires 515. Because 515 is less than 80% of 1,057, the council falls inside the transitional rule that forces authorities with under-providing plans to begin a new one immediately.

So it has. The Executive agreed the timetable on 11 June 2026, the notice of intention to commence was published on 25 June 2026, and the council received about £108,000 of government Local Plan Implementation Funding in March 2026, conditional on doing exactly this. The new plan must be produced inside a 30-month window with three government “gateway” checkpoints, under regulations only published on 26 March 2026. The council’s own report calls the timetable “challenging” and estimates the cost at more than £2 million.

What to do about it before 4 September

The scoping consultation runs from 24 July to 4 September 2026 and it is the first formal stage of the new plan. Scoping is the point at which the council asks what the plan should cover rather than where the houses should go, so the responses that count are the ones about principle: what infrastructure a doubled housing rate would need, which landscapes and settlements should be treated as constraints, and what the plan should say about the economy.

If you only engage with the process once, engage now. The site-specific stage does not arrive until the 2027 consultation, and by then the strategy will be set. Details are on the council’s Local Plan pages.

What else is coming

The council’s report also flags local government reorganisation and the possibility of Spatial Development Strategies prepared across wider areas. West Berkshire sits in what the report calls the proposed wider Ridgeway area. If that goes ahead, some strategic housing decisions would move above the district altogether, which is worth remembering while reading any timetable that runs to 2029.

Frequently asked questions

Has the Kennet Centre redevelopment been approved?

Yes. Permission for 317 homes was resolved by the Western Area Planning Committee on 10 September 2025 and the decision notice was issued on 7 April 2026. An earlier, larger scheme of 367 homes was dismissed on appeal.

How much affordable housing is in the Kennet Centre scheme?

None. The applicant argued the scheme was not viable with any, and the officer’s report accepted that. The council’s housing team objected to the conclusion.

How many homes does West Berkshire have to build?

The adopted Local Plan requires a minimum of 9,270 homes between 2023 and 2041, an average of 515 a year. The government’s standard method now puts local housing need at 1,057 a year, which is why a new plan is being prepared.

When was the West Berkshire Local Plan adopted?

10 June 2025, covering 2023 to 2041, after a ministerial direction requiring the council to consider adopting it with the Inspector’s main modifications.

How many homes are planned at North East Thatcham?

Up to approximately 2,500, increased from 1,500 during the examination. A masterplan supplementary planning document is required before it comes forward.

What is happening at Sandleford Park?

Outline permission for up to 1,000 homes, 80 extra-care units, a primary school and a country park was granted on appeal by the Secretary of State on 6 May 2022. Applications since have covered phasing, the urban design code, the country park landscape and the street network, so the infrastructure is being detailed before the houses.

When can I comment on the new Local Plan?

The scoping consultation closes on 4 September 2026. The next chance is the consultation on content and evidence from 28 May to 9 July 2027, and then on the proposed plan itself from 5 June to 31 July 2028.

Sources

• Adoption of the West Berkshire Local Plan Review 2023 to 2041, report to Council, 10 June 2025 for the adoption, the ministerial direction, the 9,270 minimum and 515 a year, the 9,493 supply, the North East Thatcham and Henwick Park allocations and the plan’s cost.
• West Berkshire Local Plan timetable and commencement, Executive, 11 June 2026 for the 1,057 local housing need, the 80% transitional rule, the £108,000 funding, the 30-month gateway process and the full timetable to adoption on 30 April 2029.
• Officer’s report on 25/00391/FULMAJ, The Mall, The Kennet Centre for the 317 dwellings, the density, the viability case on affordable housing and the housing team’s objection.
• Western Area Planning Committee minute, 10 September 2025 for the resolution, the debate and the highways evidence.
• West Berkshire planning register entry for 25/00391/FULMAJ for the decision date of 7 April 2026.
• Secretary of State decision letter, land at Sandleford Park, 6 May 2022 for the terms of the Sandleford outline permission.
• The West Berkshire planning register for the Sandleford reserved matters and condition applications.

Planning decisions change on appeal and timetables slip. Check the West Berkshire planning register for the current position on any application. What the new homes will be worth is on Newbury house prices.