South West needs an extra 460,000 homes by 2026

Nearly 460,000 homes will have to be built in the South West over the next 20 years, according to the South West Regional Assembly.

The figures for Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire are included in the assembly’s draft Regional Spatial Strategy and show that an extra 23,000 homes are needed every year to keep up with demand.

The strategy aims to ensure future planning decisions and consider the balance between development and tradition and rural and city life.

A 12-week public consultation period on the strategy will now run until August.

However, the figures have been disputed by South West Housing Initiative, a group representing the region's biggest house-builders, housing associations, employers and professions involved in property and planning.

It believes the region must deliver at least 25,000 new homes per year for the next 20 years, to tackle affordability gaps between average house prices and average incomes.