Agenda item

To consider a report and respond to the recommendations made by the Affordable Housing Working Group.

That during the development of the Housing Strategy for 2016-19 and the Local Plan to 2036:

  i.  The Council should actively promote the provision of affordable housing on exceptions sites to Town and Parish Councils.

  ii.  Where a Parish Council does not support an exceptions site, the Council should continue to fulfil its duty to meet identified affordable housing need.

  iii.  A systematic assessment should be carried out of all land to identify potential sites for affordable housing to then be matched to needs (Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment).

  iv.  The threshold for developments on which on-site affordable housing can be sought should be lowered from 15 to 10.

  v.  Agree to take legal advice to explore options to protect local houses for local people on rural development schemes through, amongst other things, covenants, joint ventures and charitable mechanisms.

(Councillor R Fuller, Chairman of Working Group was in attendance for this item).

The Cabinet received a report at the request of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Social Well-being) from the Policy, Performance and Transformation Manager (Scrutiny) (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) to consider and respond to the findings and final recommendations of the Affordable Housing Working Group.

The Chairman of Working Group, Councillor R Fuller, having been invited to present the report to the Cabinet, explained that the Working Group had originally been established in March 2014 by the Overview and Scrutiny (Social Well-being) Panel to investigate the policies and procedures of Registered Providers.  In July/August 2014 the Group’s remit was amended to undertake a study on affordable housing.

It was noted that there had been incidences where a Town or Parish Council had not supported an affordable development on an exceptions site which had resulted in the non-delivery of affordable housing.  The Cabinet agreed that early engagement with Town and Parish Councils was essential to prevent misinformation, to gain their support and to prevent pressure groups forming.  It was hoped that Ward Members would assist in this role.  However, in the event that a Town or Parish Council did not support a viable exceptions site, the Cabinet endorsed the view that the Council should take decisions that were in the best interests of the area and should fulfil its duty to meet identified affordable housing need.

The Cabinet supported that a systematic assessment should be conducted of all land to identify potential sites for affordable housing to then be matched to needs and noted that the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment was a significant task.

It was explained that the Working Group had considered Government initiatives and their impact on the supply of new affordable housing.  The policy target of 40% affordable housing still applied to all developments but there was the availability of negotiation where this was not viable.  The Cabinet noted that 40% affordable housing was being achieved on smaller developments.

During the discussions Councillor D Tysoe declared a non-statutory disclosable interest by virtue of being a Parish Council Clerk.

The Working Group had been informed that the Council could seek affordable housing contributions where there was a clear case of disaggregation of the site, where a developer intended to build on separate parts of a larger site over a long period. The Council’s current threshold was 15 homes on urban sites due to previous Government policy. The Cabinet supported the Working Group’s recommendation that the threshold for developments on which on-site affordable housing could be sought should be lowered from 15 to 10.

Whilst referring to Community Land Trusts, the Cabinet noted that the Working Group had been acquainted with examples of Community Land Trusts in various areas, including in East Cambridgeshire. The Cabinet concurred with the opinion of the Working Group that the Council should not devote this level of resource to encouraging Community Land Trusts in Huntingdonshire but considered that they should be recognised, amongst the potential tools available to local communities for delivering affordable housing.

It was noted amongst the Cabinet that there was a need to prevent and allay fears that affordable housing on rural exception sites developed on charitable land could be purchased by a person without a local connection.

The Cabinet accepted that there was a will and appetite to deliver affordable housing but land owners would not offer land for minimal financial gain.  Therefore the Council needed to consider what it could do to enable the development of dwellings that were affordable to allow local people of all ages to remain living where they wanted to.  The Cabinet endorsed the recommendations made by the Affordable Housing Working Group and as a result of the discussions the Cabinet also resolved that the Council would take legal advice to explore options to protect local houses for local people on rural development schemes through, amongst other things, covenants, joint ventures and charitable mechanisms.

The Cabinet expressed congratulations to the Working Group for the comprehensive report, whereupon it was,

RESOLVED

that during the development of the Housing Strategy for 2016-19 and the Local Plan to 2036:

 i.  the Council should actively promote the provision of affordable housing on exceptions sites to Town and Parish Councils;

ii.  where a Parish Council does not support an exceptions site, the Council should continue to fulfil its duty to meet identified affordable housing need;

iii.  a systematic assessment should be carried out of all land to identify potential sites for affordable housing to then be matched to needs (Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment);

iv.  the threshold for developments on which on-site affordable housing can be sought should be lowered from 15 to 10; and

v.  agree to take legal advice to explore options to protect local houses for local people on rural development schemes through, amongst other things, covenants, joint ventures and charitable mechanisms.