Affordable Housing - Shepway District Council

Affordable Housing - Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) - Adopted September 2008(vii) anticipated receipts from the provision of affordable housing7.10 In these exceptional circumstances the council may agree to a reduced provisionof affordable housing on the site, or some form of public subsidy to ensure thataffordable housing can be delivered on the site. The council may takeindependent advice on the submitted financial appraisal.7.11 Off site provision of affordable housing will only be acceptable where theapplicant/developer can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the council that thereare genuine and insurmountable reasons why on site provision cannot beachieved satisfactorily. The desire to increase sales income by marketing adevelopment of wholly private housing, will not be accepted as justification. Thedevelopment of affordable homes off site will only be acceptable where thecouncil is satisfied that the provision will be deliverable in terms of the availabilityof a site and a RSL partner.7.12 Commuted Sums- In exceptional circumstances the council may decide thatit is more appropriate for the developer to make a cash contribution for theprovision of local needs housing on another site in the locality. This contributionis known as a commuted sum payment. It is proposed that where a commutedsum is appropriate, its value will be calculated on the basis of the formula setout below. However it should be noted that it is the council’s preferred optionto secure affordable housing within the development site. This will maximisethe opportunity for affordable housing development, encourage tenure diversityand create inclusive mixed communities within new developments.7.13 The contribution is intended to cover the actual costs of finding an alternativesite and constructing affordable homes as set out in paragraph 4.8. Thealternative scheme will also be required to provide an appropriate mix of size,tenure and type of homes (see Section 6 above). The council will calculate therequired contribution, taking into account the purchase of suitable land, thecosts of construction and appropriate on-costs. The calculation will also takeinto account the maximum contribution that an RSL could make towards thedevelopment and still meet the cost limits set out above.7.14 Commuted Sum = Cost of Land + Cost of Contribution (with on-costs) –RSL Contribution7.15 The level of contribution for any site will be based on the above formula. Theeconomics of housing development however, set an absolute limit on the valueof contributions that can be supported by any particular site, and it is unlikelythat developers would be able to proceed on a site if their profit margin fell toolow. It is important to note therefore that contributions towards affordablehousing will impact upon the ability of developers to contribute towards otheranticipated developer contributions towards community infrastructure such asShepway District Council - Local Development Framework19