Council bid to ease pressure on ‘struggling’ developers

Last year the council lowered the target for the number of affordable homes (such as housing association properties) which they are required to include within new developments.

Now, the lower targets for the number of affordable are to be retained for the foreseeable future.

A council spokesman said: “The revised targets were introduced...to encourage housebuilding following the credit crunch, which left many first time buyers unable to get mortgages and developers struggling to raise finance.

“The shortage of funds meant housebuilding dried up, with many developers unable to build housing schemes at all, let alone with affordable housing.

“As a result the council introduced lower interim affordable housing targets to get the housing market moving again, informed by a report on economic viability compiled by consultants DTZ.”

Since the new policy was approved in May last year a number of developers who already had planning permission for developments based on the old higher targets then resubmitted them with lower figures for affordable homes.

As a result a scrutiny board recommended the higher targets be re-introduced.

“While the executive board sympathised with their concerns about the actions of some developers it decided to retain the lower targets and give the new policy more time to see what effect it has on housebuilding,” said the spokesman.

The executive board also supported the introduction of a new requirement that building must be completed within two years of the planning permission being granted to encourage building sooner.

Councillors also committed to keep the policy under review and raise the affordable housing targets once the market has recovered.

Coun Richard Lewis, the council’s executive member for city development, said: “We all want to see more affordable homes being built, but we have to be realistic. If we set the target for affordable homes too high we run the risk that developers will be put off and there will be no building at all.”