Buckinghamshire may be required to deliver more than 100,000 new homes over the next 20 years, delegates heard at the latest UKPropSocial.

Speaking at the February 26 meeting at Wycombe Wanderers FC, sponsored by Blaser Mills and Arrow Planning, Darran Eggleton, head of service for planning, policy and compliance for Buckinghamshire Council, laid out how the changes in the new Standard Method will affect the number required in the county.

He said for the Local Plan period from 2024 to 2045, the number will rise from 61,000 to potentially 96,000 and any of the Government-proposed new towns will add to the number.

He said: “The 96,000 is our mandatory target number. The Government, at the moment, have a New Towns Task Force which had a call for evidence around new towns. And any new town which that task force allocates into Buckinghamshire is on top of the 96,000.

“I’m aware of some that have been submitted. Angela Rayner mentioned that they’ve had 18 submissions for new towns along the East West Rail line.

“How many of those are in Buckinghamshire we don’t know at this stage, and we should find out by July as to whether or not we’re going to get one, two, three, four, five. So we could be looking at another 30,000 – 40,000 houses on top of that and the associated  infrastructure that goes along with those things.”

Mark Schmull, managing director of Arrow Planning, said that at the same time, numbers of new homes being delivered have averaged less than 2,000 per year over the last five years against a target of 5,000.

Housing land supply has dropped across the county, particularly in High Wycombe where it has gone from 6.1 years to 1.9.

He pointed to positive developments including the potential Marlow Film Studios, currently at appeal, and the potential for Wycombe Wanderers to become a Premier League football team.

He said: “It’s realistic to think that in five years’ time you could have the eyes of the world here.”

But he said there are challenges around housing and subsequently, infrastructure.

He went on: “We are already seeing the pressures from the housing that’s being developed now and what that means in terms of infrastructure when those things go out of sync.

“So it’s a real problem. It’s also a real opportunity. To give a bit of comfort, it’s not unique to Bucks.”

Earlier, the realities of the commercial markets in Bucks were on show to delegates.

Joanna Kearvell, head of agency for Chandler Garvey, explained the loss of 250, 000 sq ft of office space across Kingsmead Business Park, 40 Oxford Road and Mercury Park in (Wooburn Green), all in a market in which 2,300 sq ft is the average size of transaction.

She said the industrial market was experiencing strong demand and growing rents, so much so that one High Wycombe scheme at Cressex Island is achieving £18.50 per sq ft, around the same as Grade B office space.

Occupiers are moving out of West London for lower rents in Bucks.

She said: “We can see that the Industrial sector is buoyant at the minute because there are schemes which are going to be coming out of the ground on a speculative basis.

“Developers don’t build industrial kit on a spec basis if they aren’t confident there’s going to be demand, and that the rents are going to be achievable.”

Nadeem Ahmed, senior associate with Blaser Mills, said occupiers are experiencing rising operational costs, particularly their utilities and business rates. Building upgrades to meet new energy regulations are also having effects.

He said tenants want shorter leases or break clauses. He added: “Really that’s about finding a balance between flexibility and security in the lease arrangements – and that, of course, can be a challenge.”

The meeting also heard about the Premier League ambitions of Wycombe Wanderers FC from the club’s senior commercial executive Ben Brown.

Image (l-r): Darran Eggleton, Mark Schmull, Matthew Battle (UKPF managing director and moderator), Ben Brown, senior commercial executive for Wycombe Wanderers, Joanna Kearvell and Nadeem Ahmed.

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