Plymouth New Town.

Plymouth's empty homes and commercial properties represent a massive opportunity for Plymouthians given the desire to dare to think different.

The Itch

About 10 days ago, a comment by one of our readers prompted me to consider how many properties might be lying empty in Plymouth.

The discussion, at the time, centred around music venues and a question was raised about the Devonport Forum, a former Cinema and Bingo Hall.

Interestingly, the subject of a pre-planning application to build a 23-storey mixed-use commercial and residential tower, according to the Plymouth Herald in a report last year. As it's the Herald website, you might want to take my word for it: the link managed to crash my computer because the page is so heavily loaded with ads, but that’s another story.

(Would that make it 24 storeys? 😘)

Anyway, I’ve since driven past there at least half a dozen times and the thought that such valuable real estate as this is sitting empty all over the city has really started to bug me.

Because it’s not just former Bingo Halls.

It’s houses, flats, shops, offices and commercial units of all manner of size, shape and form and that’s before you even begin to consider available land for building.

It’s annoys me all the more so when you consider the following:

1. A brief internet search reveals that, according to the Homeless Charity, Shelter, Britain's Ocean City has the highest rate of homelessness in Devon with an estimated 880 people homeless in the area, including over 390 children, equating to one in every 300 residents.

2. A dreadful state of affairs in modern Britain, I’m sure you’ll agree, but all the more so when you consider that, at a recent count, 1,463 homes in the Plymouth area are sitting empty, of which 905 have been empty for more than six months.

You don’t need to be a Brain Of Britain to see a solution here and, to be fair, Plymouth City Council (working with other agencies) are doing a good job of bringing some of them back into occupation, but (with an estimated value of £185million) the empty housing stock still represents a massive opportunity for Plymouth, whether through private investment or compulsory purchase.

The problem is far greater though.

As of January 2025, there were 7,799 active social housing applications in Plymouth, up from 6,801 in May 2024. This massive increase, in such a brief period, indicates a serious and growing demand for affordable housing options that can’t be solved simply by bringing empty housing stock back into use.

As a brief glance at the national news will reveal, it’s not just a local problem, but there is a local solution.

It’s one that’s been festering in my head (and that of many people I speak to) for years, and it has recently been highlighted by Plymouth City Council.

Someone far cleverer than me might be able to produce more up-to-date information, but in 2022, Plymouth ranked 47th out of 50 for the UK high streets with the most empty retail units.

And that’s before you even begin to consider other types of commercial property.

To an ex-retailer like me, this is appalling. In the same way that nature abhors a vacumn a retailer hates to see an empty unit. To an entrepreeur such as me empty space equals opportunity.

The reasons behind this shocking statae of affairs are manifold, including an overall oversupply of retail properties, a decline in High Street shopping due to a combination of online and out-of-town retail and so on.

The Scratch

So what’s the answer?

KNOCK DOWN THE CITY CENTRE AND BUILD NEW HOMES!

Or at least some of it, maybe the bottom end, maybe the top, maybe somewhere in the middle or all of it, but let the wrecking commence!

And quick!

How else are we to deliver the 10,000 new homes promised in Council Leader Tudor Evans “huge and very, very exciting” plan?

Now Tudor’s not a bad bloke, he even sent me a copy of the latest Plymouth Book of Wonder when I first announced the launch of WOW Plymouth.

But 10,000 homes in 10 years when the council have hardly begun and have a track record so far of not even delivering the promised 144 apartments in the Civic Centre that have been the subject of ongoing discussion for 9 years.

I would love to see the regeneration of Plymouth City Centre but it’s going to take a lot more than a vision statement Tudor.

In my mind’s eye I can picture a model village with GREEN public space surrounding the Grade II listed market building. A return to old fashioned living in a modern environment with mixed residential, commercial and retail space stretching from Stonehouse to Armada Way.

With my Greater Life hat on, I’d like to see it incorporate safe and secure housing for the over 50s, offering mixed communal and independent living options. Ironically, this would free up much-needed housing stock for families elsewhere in the city and have a significant impact on the local economy by reducing the social care burden and NHS costs.

Nothing less than a total city-wide transformation and a shining example to the rest of the world that Plymouth is still a city of pioneers, the cradle of a new way of living.

The phrase “If you can dream it you can do it” is often, wrongly, attributed to Walt Disney and whilst the exact attribution is widely debated the underlying story of how the Walt Disney Corporation took a massive tract of Florida and turned it into one of the modern wonders of the world is an interesting one.

They didn’t just rely on traditional investment routes. They sought global partnerships and sponsors. To all intents and purposes, Disney World was funded by a combination of large industrial entities, such as Kodak and General Electric, and the governments of countries as diverse as France and Japan.

So what’s stopping us?

The traditional route for local civil investment would be to borrow from institutions, beg from central governement and one way or another, try to encourage private enterprise.

If we’re to deliver on Tudor’s promise to build 10,000 homes IN THE CITY CENTRE we need a different approach.

One that’s BOLD

DARING

INNOVATIVE

DIFFERENT IN EVERY RESPECT

The old ways don’t work

That’s evident from the Civic Centre/Urban Splash debacle let alone anything else. I’m sure we could quickly come up with a list of stalled projects, from God TV to the Good Companions, and that’s before we even begin to look outside of the main city centre.

This is one of the issues we will continue to discuss at WOW Plymouth. Whether here online or in open debate. I’m in the process of setting up the first WOW Plymouth “Town Hall” debate this summer, of which more news soon.

But in the meantime that’s my 2p worth.

All from a chance comment on a Facebook post.

A New Vision For Plymouth.

Over to you.

What would you like to see in Plymouth?

BIG VISIONS ONLY

I look forward to hearing your suggestions.