Housing strategy and development service

The following questions and answers give some brief guidance on the way that the affordable housing policies in the Medway Local Plan are interpreted in practice by Medway Council. Full details can be found in the Medway Guide to Developer Contributions.

(back)

What is affordable housing?

The primary definition that is used to assess the need for, suitability and development of affordable housing is provided within Planning Policy Statement 3 (Housing), which defines affordable housing as:

social rented and intermediate housing provided to specified eligible households, whose needs are not met by the market.

What is Medway’s threshold for affordable housing?

Generally all sites for new housing developments will trigger an affordable housing requirement if one of these conditions is met:

• the site provides or is capable of providing 15 or more units;
• the area of the site is half a hectare or more.

How much affordable housing is required?

There is a target of 25 per cent affordable housing applied to the total number of residential units proposed for a site.

What type and size of units are required?

The council's Housing Strategy and Development Team will determine the proportions of different types and sizes of units based on the nature of the development proposals and the identified housing need in the area and will nominate all the initial occupants.

Depending on the needs at the time, a proportion of the units must be built to full mobility standards and therefore be accessible to wheelchair users. Developers should consult with the Housing Strategy and Development Team about these requirements before producing detailed scheme layouts and designs. Across Medway, the council is seeking affordable housing units in the following ratio:

• 40 per cent one-bed units,
• 30 per cent two-bed units,
• 20 per cent three-bed units,
• 10 per cent four/five-bed units.

How will the affordable housing units be distributed?

The nature and size of the proposed development will influence the distribution of the affordable housing units but in all cases, they should be seamlessly integrated throughout the development. To promote the creation of integrated and sustainable communities, affordable housing units should be spread throughout the development rather than concentrated in one area.

Affordable housing units will be identified as part of any detailed or reserved matters application. On all developments, an Affordable Housing Plan will be required to identify the strategic distribution of affordable housing units before the submission of a reserved matters application or subsequent detailed applications.

What design requirements does the council have?

The council is committed to good quality design in housing and in particular will require that:

• schemes must be built to meet or exceed the Housing Corporation's Design and Quality Standards (April 2007): details can be downloaded from the Corporation’s website (www.housingcorp.gov.uk) and the Housing Corporation's regional offices can provide further clarification;
• at least 50 per cent of all affordable homes are built to the Joseph Rowntree Lifetime Homes Standard, details of which are available at www.lifetimehomes.org.uk;
• a minimum of two per cent of dwellings across the site will be built to the Wheelchair-user Housing Standard, as set out in the Housing Corporation's Design and Quality Standards (April 2007);
• where it has been agreed as part of the scheme that the housing will be designed to provide specialist provision, this will be for either:
  
  
  • housing for older people – including for sheltered and extra care;
  • wheelchair housing;
  • supported housing;
• all developments on key strategic sites will use modern methods of construction;
• the development meets the general current Secured by Design standard, details of which are available from www.securedbydesign.com and where suitable, the additional provisions for specialist provision;
• internal space standards, as a minimum, comply with current Housing Corporation Design and Quality Standards: however, the council seeks to achieve higher standards wherever possible - the following table gives indicative minimum space standards for selected dwelling types:

Who will deliver the affordable housing units?

The council does not prescribe the organisations that developers use to deliver affordable housing. However, in common with many other local authorities, it has selected preferred partner Registered Social Landlords (RSLs).

When does the council expect the affordable housing to be delivered?

The affordable housing should be built at the same time as the rest of the housing on a particular site, in line with an agreed plan. For example:

• the affordable housing will be completed no later than 70 per cent of all housing or
• there will be a fixed ration of affordable homes to dwellings for sale at open market prices.

These details will form part of the section 106 planning agreement and will be influenced by the size and nature of the development.

How much can the developer expect to receive for the affordable homes?

The Affordable Housing Transfer Price represents the sum payable by the housing association to the developer for the units for rent and this is based on what can be supported by target rents, to assure affordability for the occupier. It should be assumed that the units will be provided without the need for public subsidy from the council, Housing Corporation or registered social landlord recycled grant.

In accordance with the adopted Supplementary Planning Guidance, the Medway Guide to Developer Contributions sets out the framework for the Affordable Housing Transfer price.

What happens if subsequent changes mean that the site’s original capacity is changed?

Where changes have been made to the capacity of the site, Medway Council will decide whether an affordable housing contribution should be made and at what level. This will apply not only where the number of dwellings is increased but also where there has been a decrease. The revised capacity of the total site will be used as the basis for the affordable housing contribution, regardless of whether development has commenced.

How are pre-application affordable housing discussions treated?

Information on potential affordable housing requirements is based on the best information available at the time and in some cases circumstances will change. In all cases the affordable housing contribution will be confirmed at the time the decision is made on the planning application. Discussions about the section 106 requirements for affordable housing will be held between developers and the council's Housing Strategy and Development Team.

How are abnormal site costs taken into account?

A developer's affordable housing contribution depends not only on housing needs but an assessment of the development as a whole, taking account of any exceptional costs for developing the site. These must be over and above all standard development costs and of a nature that could not have been reasonably foreseen when the land price was negotiated. The council will assume that anticipated unusual costs (such as known contamination) will be reflected in the land price. Applicants should contact the Housing Strategy and Development Team at an early stage if they believe such circumstances apply.

How are mixed-use sites assessed?

The affordable housing element will be based on the net residential area of the site. Subsequent changes from other uses to residential will require the affordable housing requirement of the whole site to be recalculated.

^ (back to top)