Background

The Government has set a target for affordable housing. In England, the Housing Green Paper set a target of delivering ‘at least 180,000 new affordable homes over the next three years, and more than 70,000 affordable homes a year by 2010-11’. This is a major challenge.

The need to provide more affordable housing in the UK is as urgent as ever – despite the current fall in house prices. The difficulties in getting credit still means that people cannot buy housing even at cheaper prices and more homes are being repossessed as people have difficulties in paying their mortgage.

A study commissioned by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and carried out by Matthew Taylor MP has looked specifically at affordable housing in rural areas. This concludes that, ‘Without change ... we will fail to stem the trend of smaller villages becoming dormitory settlements of commuters and the retired, ever less affordable for those who work within them. This is not a sustainable future for rural England.’

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Definition

The Department for Communities and Local Government’s definition to be used by local authorities in planning for affordable housing, is set out in:

It ‘includes social rented and intermediate housing, provided to specified eligible households whose needs are not met by the market.’ The two key attributes of affordable housing under the official definition are that it must be at a cost low enough to be affordable taking into account local wage levels and that it must be affordable to successive tenants or buyers.

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Delivery

Until the 2008 downturn in the housing market, the majority – 65 per cent in 2006/07 – of affordable housing has been gained through private housing developers making a contribution of either housing stock, or land, or money – so that housing associations (sometimes called Registered Social Landlords or RSLs) can develop affordable housing. The Government funds the remaining proportion of affordable housing through the Homes and Communities Agency and has been increasing that funding consistently over the last few years. The system of gaining affordable housing through private housing developers is operated under Section 106 of the 1990 Town and Country Planning Act and is referred to as a ‘planning obligation. Practice guidance on this was issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government in 2006.

The amount of affordable housing required in an area is set out in the Local Development Framework. This sets the proportion of housing on any significant housing site that must be affordable and, in most cases, will break this target down into social rented and other forms of affordable tenure.

The 2008 downturn in the market may make it more challenging for local authorities and developers to negotiate viable developments involving affordable housing. Shelter has produced a guide:

 

 

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Your opportunity

Nearly everyone knows of someone who is finding difficulty in buying – or affording the rent of – their own home. The number of people on waiting lists for affordable housing is rising and there are a significant number of households in temporary accommodation. The voices of those who need affordable housing and who support its development are often not well enough heard in national and local debates about housing and you may consider getting involved in the local planning process to support the need for affordable housing.

You can do this by using your local knowledge both to re-inforce the need for housing for those who cannot afford it in your area and by helping to identify sites which might accommodate it. This can be done through, for example, a community planning event. The main points that you can do this are when a Local Development Framework is being prepared and when an individual planning application is made.

There can be a significant amount of local and national opposition to the development of housing. Much of it can result from an understandable desire to protect open land and from a concern about what impact new housing will have on local roads, schools and heath facilities.

Bodies such as the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) campaign for a sustainable future for the English countryside, both nationally and though its local groups.

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Resources

Information on government policy on home ownership schemes (HomeBuy, Right to Buy and Right to Acquire) is available at www.communities.gov.uk/housing/buyingselling/ownershipschemes/. These schemes support people who cannot afford to buy a home without help but who can meet the long-term financial commitment of home ownership.

A support guide for local authorities and other key players delivering affordable housing is available online at:

The Times Online also has some useful information.

Your local authority may have published a guide itself – many local authorities do. It will certainly have policies for the planning of affordable housing in your area on its website.

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