TWENTY thousand new homes are set to be built in Dorset by 2033 as part of a new campaign to tackle the housing crisis.

North Dorset District Council (NDDC), West Dorset District Council and Weymouth and Portland Borough Council have joined the initiative Opening Doors – Building for the Future.

The ambitious programme will include greater action and more intervention at a local level to boost the development of more quality homes of all types – including affordable, open market, private rented and social housing.

It will also include targeting developers, landowners and housebuilders for more schemes and helping more Community Land Trusts use £2m of funding for ‘bottom up’ affordable housing.

The councils will also actively pursue opportunities from Chancellor Philip Hammond’s Budget last week, which included a £44bn funding pledge over next five years.

To reach the 20,000 target, as set out in the Western Dorset Economic Growth Strategy, an average of around 1,176 homes will need to be built every year across the three council areas in total during the period from 2016 to 2033. That is up from an annual average of 737 over the past five years.

Cllr Graham Carr-Jones, NDDC leader and housing portfolio holder, said: “We are facing major housing shortages with demand outstripping supply.

“Opening Doors is about seizing the initiative and implementing any measures we can at a local level to help play our part in solving the housing crisis.”