As has been noted several times on this site, one of the main objections to the planning applications at the Stag Brewery is the reduction of ‘affordable housing’ to 7%. The Council has justified its position on the basis of high land values in the area. The developers justify their position on the basis of their need to make a profit on their 2015 purchase price of £158 million.
Some might think that ‘affordable housing’ at 7% is sufficient if it were to be for what used to be known as council housing. But what if its primary purpose was affordable housing for essential services like local teachers, medical and nursing staff? As presently planned little accommodation would be available for them. Like so much of the Thameside development the fine views will be reserved for the more well heeled and foreign investors.
There is no reason to think that the Government’s intentions to make local planning decisions easier to implement will affect the process of the Planning Inquiry. If the Government were to decide to call in the decision after seeing the report of the Planning Inspector, it would be inexplicable if they were to decide to accept the proposed arrangements.
Does the Council simply intend to ignore this reality, avoid any attempt at negotiation and waste our council tax for their own political purposes? And all the while they imply that local opposition is Nimbyism, when the vast majority of local residents recognise the need for housing on the site, just not as planned.
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Richard. A good point. Having grown up on the gigantic Wythenshawe council estate in Manchester I have little confidence in the concept of State/Council-run housing per se.
So my questions are-
Who decides the eligibility criteria and what would the criteria look like(e.g. level of income, family status, type of job and its location)
Would such properties be purchased or rented / who would own the Freehold/Leasehold.
Would eligibility be lost on an increase in income above a defined level / change employment and how would such be monitored.
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The London Borough of Richmond website states: “We do not own any housing stock and homes are provided by housing associations for us to allocate. We are able to offer around 300 homes per year, so will only consider those in urgent need of housing.” Richmond Housing Partnership is a significant operation in the borough. For the vulnerable the Richmond Charities operates almshouses. Richmond has the largest number in any borough in England. But the figure of 300 demonstrates why the Council should be looking to increase the number of affordable units in any new developments and not simply claim that local land values are too high to make it economic.
They could of course be sold to any of the above and individuals on long leases.
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