Are We Really “Building Too Many Homes” in Fleet and Surrounding Areas?
New housebuilding stirs strong emotions across the UK — and it’s certainly felt locally in Farnham, Fleet, Church Crookham, Yateley, Farnborough, Camberley and Basingstoke. Many residents feel the pace of development has turned their towns into construction zones, altering the character of neighbourhoods and piling pressure on roads, schools and health services.
But is that perception grounded in reality — or a mismatch between visibility and actual housing delivery?
National Ambitions vs Local Delivery
The UK government has set an ambitious target of 300,000 new homes per year to tackle long-standing housing shortages. By comparison, national housing completions have struggled to keep pace with this target, with official statistics showing around 158,000 houses completed across England in the recent year — well below the target.
In practical terms, this means the country’s housing supply is still dramatically underperforming compared to what’s needed to support population growth and affordability.
The Local Picture: Fleet, Hart District and Surrounding Towns
Actual Housing Delivery in Hart District
According to the latest Hart District Council monitoring, the annual housing delivery requirement for the area is around 423 homes per year under the current Local Plan.
But delivery varies significantly year-to-year:
-
Hart District delivered 434 new homes in 2023/24 — slightly above its local requirement.
-
In 2024/25, the figure fell to around 170 completions, well below plan levels.
Even with fluctuations, average annual delivery over the plan period (2014–2025) has been about 525 homes per year — above local policy requirements.
However, the new Local Housing Need figure has risen sharply — from 297 to 771 homes per year — reflecting updated government projections. That means Hart now needs to deliver many more homes annually just to keep up with demographic and economic pressures.
What’s Being Built Near Fleet and Church Crookham
There are several major housing developments in and around Fleet and Church Crookham:
-
Hartland Village (Bramshot Lane): A large mixed-use scheme planned for around 1,500 new homes — including private and affordable housing — with infrastructure like a new primary school approved to support the community.
-
Albany Park and Netherhouse Copse: Substantial new residential development sites in Fleet and Church Crookham, each delivering hundreds of new homes as they’re built out.
-
Other small sites: Development sites across Yateley, Frogmore and Hook continue to deliver homes at a smaller scale.
These projects are visible to local residents — which is why it feels like a lot of building — even though the total pace of delivery is still below what’s needed to fully address housing shortages.
Who’s Building the New Homes?
Across Hampshire as a whole, recent construction figures show:
-
Around 58% of new homes started by private housebuilders.
-
Housing associations contributing around 41%, with local authorities building only a handful.
This tells a familiar story: private developers dominate local housebuilding, with councils and housing associations doing more of the smaller share of affordable and social housing.
Supply vs Demand: Are We Building Enough?
Even with developments like Hartland Village, Elvetham Heath and smaller estates coming forward, the number of homes completed locally still lags behind what’s needed to meet population change and affordability challenges.
That’s true nationally too: despite strong visibility of construction sites and new estates in places like Fleet, Farnham, Basingstoke, Camberley, Yateley and Farnborough, the UK is still building far fewer homes annually than the levels experts and government say are needed.
In other words: the impression of constant building can mask the fact that overall housing supply is insufficient, especially for affordable, starter and family homes.
Why Local People Feel Overwhelmed by Construction
There are several reasons residents in the Fleet area feel overwhelmed by development:
-
Visibility of large sites: Big estates like Hartland Village make construction very noticeable.
-
Planning bottlenecks & delays: Even where permissions exist, slow planning processes can stretch delivery over many years.
-
Greenbelt and countryside concerns: Space constraints fuel opposition to new housing and fights over specific sites.
-
Infrastructure gaps: New homes often arrive before schools, GP surgeries and roads are expanded — creating a sense of strain.
The Way Forward
To tackle both the housing shortage and community concerns around development in Fleet and surrounding towns:
-
Empower local councils and housing associations to build more truly affordable homes — not just private market housing.
-
Streamline planning processes to reduce delays and give developers certainty.
-
Invest in infrastructure first — schools, health services and transport must expand with housing growth.
-
Engage communities early so new development integrates well with local character and services.
The question facing Fleet, Church Crookham, Yateley, Farnborough, Camberley and Basingstoke isn’t “Are we building too many homes?” but rather:
Are we building the right number of homes, in the right places, and alongside the infrastructure communities need? And the data shows that answer is still no — we need more homes, planned and delivered carefully to match demand and local priorities.
