Draft Regulation 18 Sandwell Local Plan
Affordable Housing
7.24 To meet local needs, a sufficient proportion of new homes provided over the plan period should be affordable.
Policy SHO4 - Affordable Housing
- Developments of ten homes or more should, where financially viable, provide a range of tenures that will meet the accommodation needs of both existing and future residents, in line with the most recently available information.
- All developments of ten homes or more should provide a proportion of affordable housing, where this is financially viable. Smaller sites, which could reasonably be expected to form part of a major development in the future, will also need to take this policy into account. The minimum proportion of affordable housing that should be provided, subject to viability, is 25%.
- 25% of the affordable homes required by this policy will be First Homes tenure, as defined in national guidance.
- Beyond the tenure requirements set out in Parts 2 and 3 of this policy, the tenure and type of affordable homes sought will be determined on a site-by-site basis, based on national planning policy and best available information regarding local housing needs, site surroundings and viability considerations.
- Where providing 25% affordable homes cannot be achieved, the maximum proportion of affordable housing will be required that does not undermine the development's viability (Policy SHO6).
- The affordable housing created will remain affordable in perpetuity.
Justification
7.25 Rising house prices and low average incomes over a long period have made market housing increasingly unaffordable for many Sandwell households. The Black Country HMA (2021) identifies a requirement for 16.9% of new homes to be made available for affordable or social rent, 7% to be shared ownership and 8.2% to be First Homes. To meet this level of need over the Plan period, 32.1% of new housing would have to be affordable. Sandwell aspires to provide this level of affordable housing, through a range of schemes delivering up to 100% affordable housing funded through grant and other financial sources and supported by developer contributions where viable.
7.26 Viability issues can vary significantly from site to site and are often caused by poor ground conditions, the extent of which cannot be accurately assessed until planning application stage. Therefore, to maximise delivery of affordable housing over the Plan period, it is important that affordable housing is sought on all eligible sites, that viability is assessed on a site-by-site basis where required, and that a flexible approach is employed wherever possible to allow for changing market conditions.
7.27 The tenure of affordable housing to be funded by developers through planning obligations is constrained by national planning policy, as set out above. At least 25% of any affordable homes funded should be First Homes tenure – a specific kind of discounted market sale housing to be sold at 30% below current market value, to eligible persons only, at every future sale[126]. National guidance allows for evidenced local variations in First Homes requirements, however there is no evidence that such variations are required in Sandwell. In addition, the NPPF (paragraph 65) requires at least 10% of all homes on major developments (of ten homes or more) to be affordable home ownership tenure. First Homes and shared ownership properties can contribute towards this requirement.
7.28 Beyond national requirements, the tenure and type of affordable housing required over the Plan period will vary according to local housing need and market conditions. In general, a mix of tenures will be sought on all sites of ten homes or more, to help create mixed communities across the borough. However, there may be circumstances where this goal is better achieved through the provision of 100% affordable housing development to boost affordable housing provision, or through delivery of 100% market housing development with off-site provision of the affordable housing requirement.
[126] Detailed guidance is available at: www.gov.uk/guidance/first-homes