Thousands of affordable homes axed
Notwithstanding help for people to buy houses announced at the Conservative Party Conference this week, it is clear that there is little if no scope of an increase in affordable housing completion rates. Indeed this story suggests the opposite. I fear the crowd pleasing policy of helping first time buyers purchase older homes will only stoke up house prices – not increase social mobility. This story tells us:
But freedom of information disclosures bureau show that over five years more than 2,300 affordable homes have been axed from housing schemes across the UK even after builders and councils signed off section 106 legal agreements specified these homes must be built. Section 106 is a clause within the 1990 Town and Country Planning Act that provides a mechanism to recoup contributions from developers for infrastructure requirements to enable a scheme to go ahead. It has become the main way affordable housing is delivered. But under new legislation that came into force in April, developers now have the ability to fast track challenges against a “section 106” if it can show that building the low-cost homes required makes a scheme unviable.
In Cheshire, a council decision to allow a consortium of leading housebuilders to axe 252 affordable homes in the 1,200-unit Winnington Urban Village in Northwich after legal sign-off has “opened the floodgates” to developers requesting similar reductions, says Labour councillor Brian Clarke. Cheshire West and Chester council says that under the revised arrangement, money for affordable housing “will be available if the development can afford it”.
In south Devon, research by the bureau shows that 109 affordable homes have been scrapped after legal sign-off. Anne Fry, an independent Teignbridge district councillor, warns: “Developers are just picking us off at the moment.” She says she and her colleagues struggle to cope with the technical demands of developers seeking to reduce affordable housing contributions.
The district council states: “Teignbridge has not lost 109 affordable homes through the s106 process – those homes would never have been provided because the developments were not viable. By demonstrating flexibility and an awareness of market conditions, Teignbridge has ensured the delivery of a viable level of affordable housing.”
Councils are bracing themselves for a big increase in retrospective appeals by housebuilders. Ten of the biggest builders – which between them own enough land to build more than 300,000 homes – together made pre-tax profits of £1.1bn last year, according to bureau analysis.