Following a judgement in the High Court in July 2015 which removed the Government’s 10 units (5 in rural areas) or 1000sqm threshold for delivering affordable housing (click here for more details), permission has this week been granted by the government to appeal against the ruling.
The policy had exempted small housing developments from the requirement to provide or contribute to affordable housing and allowed an offset for vacant buildings (vacant building credit). DCLG has said that the earlier judgement would have a disproportionate impact on smaller builders who are important in providing homes for local communities.
Shaun Pettitt, Director of Chapman Lily Planning, commented that: “this prolonged period of uncertainty for developers concerning the requirement to provide affordable housing contributions on smaller sites is likely to lead to many proposals being stalled to await the outcome of the Government’s Appeal, particularly in areas where local policy sets a very low threshold for such contributions. This in turn will add further delay to the delivery of new homes.”
Should you require further advice or information in respect of any live applications or forthcoming schemes that may be affected by these changes, then please do not hesitate to contact us.