Bid for more affordable housing rejected (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)
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Plans to increase affordable homes target in St Albans and Harpenden thrown out
8:50am Thursday 2nd February 2012 in News By Manisha Mistry
CALLS to increase the affordable housing target in the district were rejected by a planning panel chairman, who insisted a number should not be set until the core strategy is agreed.
Councillor Teresa Heritage overturned proposals by members of the Planning Policy Advisory Panel to increase the affordable housing policy to 40 per cent and to push it through full council using the authority's powers under the Localism Bill.
Using her casting vote as chairman, Councillor Heritage, portfolio holder for planning and conservation, recommended the affordable housing target should be progressed through the core strategy, rather than being agreed in advance.
Currently the council delivers 35 per cent affordable homes on housing schemes consisting of more than 15 units. Although Councillor Heritage agrees the rate should be increased, she disagrees that some £150,000 should be spent on drafting an earlier policy.
She said: "In order for the policy to be robust and enforceable we must go through the vigorous and statutory planning core strategy on which we are embarked and not take short cuts."
Councillor Chris Brazier (Liberal Democrat), who voted in favour of pressing ahead with the policy, said the council should be looking to deliver what people want, not wait.
He said: "It's what people need, so we should do it as soon as we can. Not just that we need key worker housing for teachers and nurses who just can't afford housing."
Councillor Martin Leach (Labour) who was also on the committee and in favour of setting the housing target sooner said simply saying the council will increase the target is not enough.
He said: "The pressure from the public means they have to say something, but when you look at the detail this is not a policy to deal with problems."
Councillor Heritage said she fears if the council does not pass the policy through the core strategy the council would not have statutory planning documents to fall back on, if developers challenge it at planning appeals.
The affordable housing debate, at the district council on Wednesday, January 25, was held after Councillor Simon Grover (Green Party) proposed a motion to the full council last year, which said the district council's delay in drawing up the core strategy threatened plans to increase the number of affordable homes that are built.
busbee says...
2:26pm Thu 2 Feb 12
As there are very few large housing sites left in St Albans, the policy that counts is the one for small schemes of under 15 units. Currently there is an affordable provision of zero% on such land.
"This is not a policy to deal with problems." says one Cllr. No it ain't. He's right. A policy that insisted on a 35% or 40% provision on small sites would have a real outcome, not the pretend outcome that has been engineered to date.
But most cllrs don't care. If they did, we'd have had a policy for small sites a decade or two ago.
Cllr Heritage seems to be trying to jump onto the anti-Tesco bandwagon.
Why is she so sure they'll appeal against a 40% provision. Tescos aren't like SADC who seem determined to squeeze the last penny of profit out of the sale of their housing site in London Colney, and under the Libdems, refused to provide more than 35% affordable housing on the site, even though the land originally was 100% affordable housing.