Seera had 112 members who were eligible to vote at the meeting

That was the level of new house building agreed in principle at a South East England Regional Assembly (Seera) meeting on Wednesday.

The assembly is suggesting an average of 28,900 new homes are built every year between 2006 and 2026.

The area covers Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Berks, Bucks, Hants, Oxfordshire and the Thames Gateway. The plans will now need government approval.

They will be discussed by a panel of independent planners before going to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for a final say from John Prescott.

The plans are aimed at addressing a perceived lack of homes and of affordable housing in the region.

They are also a response to estimates that the population of the South East will have grown by 1m people by 2026.

Seera's South East Plan states that "by far the major proportion of new housing will be associated with the region's cities and towns", but adds that rural communities which have the infrastructure to support new housing will also be considered.

The assembly's members met at Winchester Guildhall, Hampshire, on Wednesday to decide on the final numbers.

Across the South East - suggested numbers of new homes per year Berkshire - 2,620 Buckinghamshire - 4,040 East Sussex - 1,900 Hampshire - 6,100 Isle of Wight - 520 Kent - 6,100 Oxfordshire - 2,360 Surrey - 2,360 West Sussex - 2,900

In advance of the meeting a 12-week consultation on the housing plans was held earlier in 2005.

Friends of the Earth and the South Downs Campaign raised issues of increased carbon dioxide emissions because of a greater volume of traffic, and landscapes being damaged by economic growth.

Concerns were also voiced that any housing growth would have to be accompanied by the necessary infrastructure, such as transport, schools and hospitals.

Infrastructure improvements discussed at the meeting included carriageway widening at junctions 10 and 10a of the M20 at Ashford in Kent, a major series of bypasses on the A27 and A259 along the south coast, more reservoirs for the region, and improvements to the Brighton mainline rail route.

Councillor Tony Reid, a Seera member from East Sussex County Council, said on Wednesday: "We're saying to government and ourselves, these are the infrastructure needs that must be provided along with this housing to achieve the ultimate goal [of] a better quality of life for the people that live in this area."

The Campaign for More and Better Homes had wanted Seera to increase the number of houses to be built, saying there was a risk of "setting alarmingly low levels of new house building".