Welcome to Part Three of OnTheWight’s two-hour conversation with Ollie Boulter, the strategic manager for Planning and Infrastructure Delivery at the Isle of Wight council.
In this episode Ollie talks about the building of new houses for people to rent and buy; the Airbnb dilemma; government targets; how planning officers weigh up harm and benefit and how they balance it. We end with how Isle of Wight council (IWC) is seeking to increase the discounts applied to ‘affordable housing’.
Housing supply and affordability
The supply of affordable housing on the Isle of Wight has been an ongoing issue for many years. During our conversation, we ask Ollie to share his thoughts on the government’s focus on increasing housing supply to address affordability issues and the council’s priority in this area.
Ollie explained that by providing more housing – “by turning the supply tap on” – the cost of housing would be pushed down. He pointed out that it’s an ongoing process and “not a quick fix” strategy.
There is going to be a time lag between the new changes coming into force and the outcome of those being seen on the ground. He also added that he believes a planning officer’s role is not to just look at the number of units being proposed, but also think about who would be buying or renting them, why do they need them, etc.
The importance of considering the needs of the local community and the consequences of not meeting housing targets is also discussed.
Rental sector and energy efficiency
Touching on the rental sector, Ollie highlights the challenges in this area.
New legislation is being introduced to ensure landlords improve the energy efficiency in existing housing stock. Improving properties comes with an associated cost, so some landlords may not wish to invest and simply put their rental properties on the market.
Other landlords may invest and help improve the energy efficiency of rented homes, leading to warmer homes and lower energy costs for those renting.
The Airbnb phenomenon
The impact of the Airbnb phenomenon on the housing market was discussed and the challenges of balancing tourism with local housing needs.
In 2022 it was reported that the Isle of Wight’s rental market has shrunk by 83 per cent since the start of the Covid pandemic, with availability dropping from 350 homes to just 60.
Ollie points out that the government have provided a number of levers (that have nothing to do with planning) that councils can use to help achieve this balance, such as doubling council tax on second homes (which was introduced in 2022) and enforcing commercial waste collection.
Housing targets
In December 2024, the government’s housing target for the Island is 1,100 new homes built each year. This is more than double what the IWC have submitted (453) as part of their Island Planning Strategy.
Ollie explained the Planning Strategy is being assessed by independent planning inspectors in February and March 2025 and if there is going to be any room for negotiation in the agreed housing targets it should become evident after this assessment.
Balancing planning decisions and community needs
The issue of residents understanding the need for more homes, but concerned about them being built in their area was touched on, and Ollie explained that it’s the planning officers role to understand local contexts and make sure that policies are applied appropriately.
He said,
“Inherently people don’t like change, and new development is change – particularly if it’s somewhere maybe that you have grown up and walking down the road it has always looked like that, so any proposal that changes it, ‘could’ have an impact.”
Ollie emphasised the importance of balancing planning decisions to meet community needs and explains how the Island Planning Strategy has a spread of areas earmarked for development.
Of course, there are challenges dealing with competing interests and ensuring sustainable development on the Island. This means having appropriate and adequate services and facilities nearby, such as shops, public amenities, etc.
Ensuring sustainable development highlights the importance to maintain a highly knowledgeable and experienced planning workforce to manage these complexities.
Redefining affordable housing
About half way through this episode Ollie goes into more detail about ‘affordable housing’ and the planning department’s role in ensuring there is sufficient affordable housing stock.
As mentioned in Part Two, the lack of supply of ‘affordable’ homes on the Island is driving the prices up, making them even more unaffordable to Islanders.
In 2023/24 only 7.3 per cent of homes built on the Island could be classed as ‘affordable’ under the NPPF’s definition — that is a minimum of 20 per cent below market price or market rent.
The Island Planning Strategy is seeking to ensure that affordable housing in the future is 40 per cent below market value – bringing prices/rents closer to what many Islanders consider ‘affordable’.
If this Strategy is approved by Government, the planning department will be able to say in the future that developments of a certain size must deliver 35 per cent of properties at 40 per cent below market value. This could ensure much better outcomes and benefits for the Island in the future.
Working with the Planning Committee
We asked Ollie how planning officers — who have trained for many years in their profession and understand planning policies inside out — felt about presenting their recommendations to the Planning Committee only to hear them being rejected.
He said,
“We are entirely understanding, albeit I’ll have to be honest sometimes frustrated that the planning committee doesn’t necessarily agree with that view, but it comes back to that fundamental point that they are entitled to do that.”
Ollie clarified that the members of the Planning Committee are not there representing the people of the Island, but instead are there to represent the Local Planning Authority. He goes into further detail in the episode below, including how as Head of Planning he’s able to use his authority to pause a decision being made by the Committee.
Calling in applications
We also queried the changes applied several years ago to the ability for councillors to ‘call in’ an application.
This is the process that allows a local councillor to make a request to ‘call in’ the application to be determined by the Planning Committee, rather than by officers. Ollie explained this is a standard procedure across the country, although can vary slightly between different local planning authorities and went on to explain the changes.
As with Part One and Two, this is a fascinating listen for anyone wanting to understand more about the planning process.
Listen to the conversation
As mentioned before, we’ve split the two-hour conversation into several parts to make it easier for you to digest.
You can listen to the Part Three by clicking on the play button below. Using this player, you can also pause the recording, jump back 10 seconds or jump forward 30 seconds.
Listen to Part One or Part Two. Part Four follows over the weekend.
