Cabinet Member for Planning, Legal & Asset Management

Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Housing Services

To note the report and:

i)               Approve the publication of the draft Affordable Housing Delivery Supplementary Planning Document as set out at Appendix B for public consultation; and

ii)              Delegate authority to the Assistant Director of Planning, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning, Legal and Asset Management, to approve and publish any minor changes to the draft Affordable Housing Delivery Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) prior to its publication and to approve Appendix 5 of the draft Affordable Housing Delivery SPD which will set out the justification for the financial contributions calculator.

AGREED: To note the report and:

i)               Approve the publication of the draft Affordable Housing Delivery Supplementary Planning Document as set out in Appendix B for public consultation; and

ii)             Delegate authority to the Assistant Director of Planning, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning, Legal and Asset Management, to approve and publish any minor changes to the draft Affordable Housing Delivery Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) prior to its publication and to approve Appendix 5 of the draft Affordable Housing Delivery SPD which will set out the justification for the financial contribution’s calculator.

Councillor Bermange introduced the report to Cabinet by outlining that the Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) would serve as an important document to allow for the borough to work with developers to ensure that there was adequate provision of affordable housing for those residents in the borough that really needed it. He said that the average cost of renting and also house prices in general were both extremely high and that it was a priority of the new administration to deliver more affordable housing for residents. He then reminded Cabinet that like other SPDs that had been brought before them, they could not create new policy and did not replace existing policy that was already in place from the Borough Local Plan (BLP). He then continued by outlining some key aspects of the proposed SPD.

Councillor Bermange then wished to comment on the successful debate at the Place Overview & Scrutiny Panel, earlier in the month. One topic of debate that was hotly discussed was what would happen if a developer believed that they would not be able to deliver a policy compliant level of affordable housing. A very clear justification as to the change in circumstances would need to be provided if this were the case. Developers would also need to demonstrate that they had considered alternative sites if they would not be able to deliver the required level of affordable housing. He concluded by asking for as many members of the public as possible to respond to the public consultation when it began.

The Chair then invited Andrew Hill to address Cabinet for 3 minutes as a registered public speaker.

Councillor Bermange responded to Andrew Hill’s questions. He said that a planning inspector could certainly come to a different decision, unforetold by that of the Council, however he believed that everything relevant to the SPD was spelled out extremely well within the document. In response to his first question, he said that the SPD made it quite clear that all viability assessments should reflect recommended approaches in national planning guidance. Persons with knowledge in the local area were key in helping to shape the SPD via the public consultation.

Councillor Del Campo said that the Council would have nomination rights for the affordable properties, as laid out within the document. As part of Section 106 agreements, developers would be responsible to sign a nomination protocol. Persons who were in need of these affordable homes most would then be nominated.

Councillor Price asked if the Equalities Officer could review the EQIA section of the report, prior to the commencement of the consultation being opened to the public. Councillor Bermange confirmed that this could be actioned.

AGREED: That Cabinet noted the report and:

i)               Approved the publication of the draft Affordable Housing Delivery Supplementary Planning Document as set out in Appendix B for public consultation; and

ii)             Delegated authority to the Assistant Director of Planning, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning, Legal and Asset Management, to approve and publish any minor changes to the draft Affordable Housing Delivery Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) prior to its publication and to approve Appendix 5 of the draft Affordable Housing Delivery SPD which would set out the justification for the financial contribution’s calculator.