Nearly 14,000 new homes needed in Ipswich in two decades

A major new report from Ipswich Borough Council identifies a housing need requirement of 13,600 homes between 2026 and 2045, equivalent to 714 properties a year.

Henley Gate development (Image: Newsquest)

However, the authority's Baseline Data Report warns that housing need currently exceeds identified supply, with a potential shortfall of between 4,900 and 11,900 homes.

The figures will help inform the council's new Local Plan and decisions about the future growth and development of Ipswich, there will be a consultation to discuss the plan in summer 2028.

Some 8,700 homes are currently classed as identified housing supply, equivalent to 64 per cent of the 13,600-home requirement, while just 1,700 were recorded as committed supply in the report's April 2025 figures.

The scale of the housing need comes despite population projections indicating Ipswich could have slightly fewer residents by 2045.

Its population is projected to fall from 139,363 in 2026 to 138,871 in 2045, a decrease of 0.4 per cent.

House prices have meanwhile risen considerably during the past two decades.

The average Ipswich property cost £221,445 in July 2026, around £90,000 more than in 2005, although prices remained 21 per cent below the Suffolk average and 34 per cent below the East of England average.

Housing affordability has also worsened, with the ratio between house prices and earnings rising from 4.69 in 2002 to 6.55 in 2025.

Part of the Garden Suburb housing development (Image: Google Earth)

Ipswich delivered 560 homes during 2025/26, including 207 affordable homes, while 359 were within the IP-One area covering central Ipswich.

The council's report says brownfield development continues to make a significant contribution to housing delivery but identifies housing availability and affordability among the challenges facing Ipswich as its new Local Plan takes shape.