Affordable Housing - Shepway District Council

Affordable Housing - Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) - Adopted September 20088 Design Issues8.1 All new homes provided should meet current Housing Corporation SchemeDesign standard or other prevailing standards for affordable housing asdetermined by the government and its agencies.8.2 In February 2008 the Government published amended guidance on the designand construction of sustainable homes (The Code for Sustainable Homessettingthe standard in sustainability for new homes).This aims to drive a ‘stepchange’ in sustainable home building as a way of tackling the levels of carbonemissions created by the use of energy to heat, light and run homes. The Codeuses a sustainability rating to assess performance of homes on a scale of 1*to 6*. The council approved a guidance note in January 2008 on applying theCode in Shepway which recommends that all new homes should be expectedto achieve at least a 3* rating. This will be applied to all new private sector andpublic sector housing schemes.8.3 The council wishes to make the best use of the land available for housebuildingwithout leading to over intensive developments offering a poor quality of livingenvironment. All affordable housing provision should achieve a minimum densityof 30 dwellings to the hectare, but within urban areas densities much higherthan this may be achievable without compromising on quality and amenity. Onall sites the council will seek a mix of dwellings in accordance with Policy HO5and require all new developments to have a high standard of layout, designand choice of materials in accordance with Policy BE10.The district councilsupports the Kent Design Guide (which has been adopted by the council as anSPD) and its recommendation.8.4 Affordable housing should be fully integrated into the wider development inlocations agreed between the developer and the council. The affordable housingprovided should have essentially the same external design features as themarket housing provided on the site.Shepway District Council - Local Development Framework21