Affordable Housing and housing developments
On site provision (Guidance for developers)
The priority is for affordable housing to be provided on site and integrated with neighbouring open market dwellings. Off-site provision or a commuted payment will only be supported where it can be robustly justified and where it would result in the delivery of at least an equivalent number of affordable homes within the same settlement as the main application site.
Developers should contact us at the earliest opportunity, ideally at pre-application stage to discuss affordable housing requirements.
The provision of affordable housing will normally be sought through a section 106 agreement on site. Details of the affordable housing to be provided should be submitted with the planning application as set out in the planning application validation checklist available on our planning portal.
For rural scheme proposals we have a rural exception policy (RA14 of the adopted District Plan), which outlines the circumstances in which small scale affordable housing schemes may be permitted to meet local needs. The relevant policies in the new Local Plan are SP 7 Housing Type and Mix, SP 25 Rural Development, and SADM 34 Development within the Green Belt.