A ROW of garages could be demolished as part of plans by Mid Devon District Council to bolster its social housing stock with a new development of a dozen homes.

Plans for 12 affordable properties will be debated by the planning committee.

The proposal would see the row of 18 garages demolished at Roundhill, in Tiverton, to make way for the modular homes that would be built by Zed Pods.

The firm has been behind several other affordable housing schemes put forward by Mid Devon, with a focus on using brownfield sites for small-scale developments.

However, a total of 20 residents have written to the council to oppose the application, raising issues such as worries about whether there will be enough parking spaces, concerns about extra traffic down nearby roads which are ostensibly single track because of street parking, while concerns about subsidence of existing properties was also raised.

One resident, Krystina Orchard, claimed emergency service vehicles already struggled to access homes on the road on occasion due to parking issues, and feared that her property could be overlooked.

“When we bought this property, although we had neighbours we were not overlooked at the front,” she said.

“The property only had garages at the front of the house so light was not blocked. Now there is a risk of light being reduced and being overlooked.”

Also, complaints about how long the process has taken were submitted by some.

The first pre-application feedback to Zed Pods was in May 2024, suggesting it has spent some months prior creating its first suggestion.

Initially the firm had hoped to put 20 homes on the site, but various pre-planning meetings led to it being dropped all the way to eight, before rising again slightly to 12.

The development proposes 16 spaces allocated to the properties and 22 unallocated parking spaces, and while some trees will be removed, Zed Pods said the more significant trees would be retained within the development, including a “high quality maple”.

Earlier this year, Mid Devon announced its Eastlands development had transformed a former area of underused garages and parking into five modern homes. The development comprises three two‑bedroom and two three‑bedroom houses, each with private gardens, and a total of 16 car parking spaces, including nine unallocated spaces to the north of the site.

Despite periods of heavy rain and storms extending some of the final landscaping, the project was completed in just five months following the arrival of the factory-built modules in September 2025.

However, there have been delays to the completion of some other Zed Pods sites in Mid Devon.

Two sets of modular homes in a Mid Devon village still had not been completed earlier this year even though one of the supposed quick-build properties was approved in 2023.

Zed Pods describes itself as the UK leading modular housing company, yet its approved plans for one of its homes on Fir Close in Willand is still not in place years after approval was granted.

And a scheme for seven homes in Willand’s Somerlea has still not been completed, according to residents. Approval for those homes was only last year, but the supposed quick-build nature of the homes means they have taken longer to finish than predicted.

Mid Devon District Council views Z Pods homes as a quick way to bolster its social housing provision, and has previously shouted about award wins for schemes at St Andrews House in Cullompton, and shortlistings for Shapland Place in Tiverton.

Find out about planning applications that affect you by visiting the Public Notice Portal.

Mid Devon has previously said that developing brownfield sites can lead to unexpected delays, as happened at Fir Close due to issues with utility delays.