Areas of Search* – Housing Opportunity Sites

If you want to see what’s actually being proposed near you, this is the place to start. The Dorset Local Plan divides future housing across the county into "Areas of Search" — broad zones where new homes could be built between 2026 and 2043.

These are the real sites people are talking about, from small infill plots to large urban extensions. Each has a unique reference code, like LA/WEYM/013, and a projected housing number. Once included in the Local Plan, these sites will move quickly from "possible" to "planned."

👉 View Appendix A – Opportunity Sites for Housing (Dorset Council)

How the List Works

The Plan identifies housing opportunities for every settlement under Dorset Council (excluding Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole). The full list runs alphabetically from Beaminster to Yetminster, covering towns, villages, and urban extensions across the county.

We’re starting locally with the areas that affect us the most — Littlemoor and Preston — and we’ll be expanding to cover Weymouth, Dorchester, and the rest of Dorset in the coming weeks.

Current Areas Covered

• Bincombe – Northern Weymouth expansion (approx. 269 homes)

• Littlemoor – Northern Weymouth expansion (approx. 71 homes)

• Preston – Eastern Weymouth sites (approx. 1,456 homes)

• (Coming soon) Weymouth, Dorchester, and wider Dorset

Each area of search includes:

• The site codes/names and estimated housing numbers

• A map showing proposed development boundaries

• Local issues such as flooding, transport, and green space

• How the proposals relate to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)

*Note: Dorset Council’s "areas of search" are not final allocations yet, but they are the first step in identifying where future development will go. Once listed, they rarely disappear.