Agenda item

The Planning Policy Lead Officer and the Special Projects Planner introduced a report to revise how the affordable housing element of the Slough Core Strategy Policy 4 (Type of Housing) was applied in respect of contributions sought from housing developers through Section 106 planning obligations.  An update clarifying what was proposed following a Members workshop on affordable housing held on 19^th April was included on the Amendment Sheet.  Approval was sought in preparation for a revision of the Developers Guide which would be presented to a future Planning Committee for adoption.

The national and local policy context, including the newly adopted Slough Housing Strategy, expected affordable housing to cover a wider range of households and include affordable and intermediate tenures.  The proposed changes to the Affordable Housing Policy was part of the planning response to the revised strategic approach.  The key elements of the provisions were summarised which were developers building affordable homes; financial contributions for the Council to build or fund affordable homes and viability assessments.

The Committee commented on the report and raised a number of questions.  Members asked how the development of 15-25 dwellings, stepped into the requirement of social housing would enable SBC to gain a percentage of the numbers. The Officer advised that there was a schedule of rates of money, notional value and that the idea of the sum of money depends on units, using a figure relating to a development. The Officer advised that this work has not been carried out but that it would be included in the developers guide in the future.

The Committee discussed the proposals in detail, particularly the revised table on the Amendment Sheet, and comments on questions were raised about the specific tenure splits and about the financial contributions from developers.  A Member asked about whether the revised policy could help to deliver more homes on brownfield rather than greenfield sites.  The Officer responded that the circumstances of each site varied considerably and the policy would be applied relative to each site.  The revised policy would not make it any easier to develop a greenfield site, however, it would ensure there was a higher proportion of affordable housing on any greenbelt land released.  Another Member suggested that the policy could go further to include an even high proportion of affordable housing on greenfield sites to justify the release of such land to meet Slough’s strategic housing need.  It was noted that this could be considered as part of the review of the Local Plan.

At the conclusion of the discussion, it was agreed to approve the revised approach as set out in the report and the Amendment Sheet.

Resolved –  That the revised approach on how affordable housing planning policy was applied be approved.