Affordable Housing - Shepway District Council

Affordable Housing - Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) - Adopted September 20085 The Nature of Provision5.1 Local Plan Review (2006) Policy HO4 requires provision of affordable housingto be dispersed on the site and not concentrated in one location. There aremany examples of housing developments in the UK where affordable unitshave been successfully integrated within wider open market developments suchthat there is no obvious distinction between the two types of provision. ThePoundbury development in Dorset is one such example. The integration ofaffordable units within a development has benefits in creating mixed communitiesand avoids the disadvantages, and socially undesirable consequences, ofconcentrations of one type of housing or tenure type. The council does notaccept that, in properly designed schemes, affordable housing and markethousing cannot make good neighbours.Tenure types5.2 There are a number of different forms of affordable housing. Annex B of PPS3defines affordable housing as including both “social rented and intermediatehousing, provided to specified eligible households whose needs are not metby the market.” All affordable housing provided should meet two key criteria.It should:-“Meet the needs of eligible households including availability at a cost lowenough for them to afford, determined with regard to local incomes andlocal house prices andinclude provisions for the home to be retained for future eligible households;orIf these restrictions are lifted, for any subsidy to be recycled for alternativeaffordable housing provision.”5.3 The Council recognises the following types of affordable housing:-(i) Social Rented Housing- This is generally owned and managed by aRegistered Social landlord (RSL), and rented to a household at anaffordable rent, which is set in accordance with Housing Corporationguidance. Social Rented Housing should be available in perpetuity topersons in housing need (subject to the exception where tenants have theright to acquire).(ii) Intermediate Housing- This is housing provided at prices and rentsabove those of Social Rented housing but below market price or rents.Shepway District Council - Local Development Framework13