Draft Regulation 18 Sandwell Local Plan
Delivering Wheelchair Accessible Homes and Self-build and Custom Housing
7.29 To meet local needs, a sufficient proportion of new homes provided over the plan period should be wheelchair accessible, and enough plots should be provided to meet local demand for self-build and custom build housing.
Policy SHO5 - Delivering Wheelchair Accessible and Self / Custom Build Housing
National Accessibility and Wheelchair Housing Standards
Self-Build and Custom Build Plots
- All new homes will be required to meet M4(2) (Category 2: Accessible and adaptable dwellings) requirement in Building Regulations[127].
- Developments of ten homes or more should provide a proportion of accessible and adaptable or wheelchair user housing, where this is financially viable. The minimum proportion that should be provided is:
- an additional 15% of homes to meet the optional Building Regulations Requirement M4(3): Wheelchair User Dwellings[128].
- Other than for reasons of financial viability, these requirements will only be reduced where it can be demonstrated that any of the following apply:
- it is not practically achievable given the physical characteristics of the site; or
- site specific factors mean that step-free access to the dwelling cannot be achieved; or
- the homes are located on the first floor or above of a non-lift serviced multi-storey development; or
- the amount of M4(3) housing is limited by the number of homes that can be provided where the local authority is likely to be responsible for allocating or nominating a person to live in that home.
- On developments of 100 homes or more, where there is currently a demand for self-build and custom build plots (defined as the number of entries added to the self-build and custom build register in the most recent base period for the local authority where the site is located), at least 5% of plots should be made available for self-build or custom build, or sufficient to match demand if lower.
- All plots set aside for self-build or custom build housing (secured via a legal agreement or planning condition) must include:
- legal access onto a public highway;
- water, foul drainage, broadband connection, and electricity supply available at the plot boundary;
- sufficient space to build without compromising neighbouring properties and their amenity and the amenity of future occupiers; and
- an agreed design code or plot passport for the plots.
- If a plot remains unsold after six months, after a thorough and proportionate marketing exercise that includes making details available to people on the custom and self-build register, the requirement to make the plot available for self-build or custom build will fall away.
Justification
Wheelchair accessible and adaptable homes
7.30 Sandwell Council will work with partners to meet identified needs to accommodate older people, people with disabilities and those with other special needs. The Black Country HMA (2021) concludes that an additional 5,516 accessible and adaptable homes, including 656 wheelchair user homes, will be required by Sandwell households in 2039 due to disability or old age.
7.31 There is a need for these types of home across all tenures. This implies that a significant uplift will be required to the number of homes that meet these standards currently. Although some improvements to existing homes funded through Disabled Facilities Grants may contribute towards this uplift, the provision of new homes meeting the standards would reduce the need for adaptations to be retrofitted and make the housing stock more responsive to the evolving needs of the local population.
7.32 People's housing needs change as they get older, and homes designed in a way that makes them more easily accessible and adaptable allow people to stay in their own homes for longer. With public health and social care strategies placing more emphasis on supporting people in their own homes rather than moving to residential care, it is important that more adaptable and accessible homes are provided. Studies have shown that older properties are generally less accessible, and harder to adapt.
7.33 In line with new Building Regulations all new homes must meet the M4(2) (Category 2: Accessible and adaptable dwellings) requirement. Accessible and adaptable homes that meet the M4(2) Building Regulations are designed and built to a standard that meets the needs of occupants with differing needs, including some older or disabled people, and are only slightly more expensive to build than standard housing. They must also allow adaptation to meet the changing needs of occupants over time. Homes built to this standard are more flexible and readily adaptable as people's needs change, for example if they have children and require easy access for pushchairs, if they have a temporary or permanent disability or health issue, or as they gradually age and their mobility decreases.
7.34 Wheelchair user homes that meet the M4(3) Building Regulations are required by fewer households but attract significantly increased costs. M4(3) standards can only be applied to homes where the local authority is responsible for allocation or for nominating a person to live in that home.
7.35 Therefore, for major housing developments there will be a requirement for 15% of wheelchair user homes at the M4(3) standard.
7.36 The standards will be applied through planning conditions or section 106 agreements, which will require an agreed number of units to be constructed to the specified Building Regulations requirements.
7.37 Policy SHO5 allows for an element of flexibility in recognition of the practicalities of delivering these standards, given the challenges that may arise in view of the topography of some sites, where access within the gradients specified in the Building Regulations Approved Document may not be achievable. Where step-free access to dwellings cannot feasibly be achieved due to site specific factors, the optional standards will not be required for the homes affected. Where multi-storey flats or apartments are being developed without lift provision, homes on the first floor or above will not be required to meet the M4(2) or M4(3) standards. Ground floor flats in multi-storey developments will still be required to meet the optional standards. Where lifts are provided the standards will be applied in accordance with the Policy.
Self and Custom Build Housing
7.38 National guidance requires local authorities to permit sufficient serviced plots of land to meet the demand for self-build and custom housebuilding in their area, defined as the number of entries to the authority's self-build and custom housebuilding register in the most recent base period (12 months running from 31 October to 30 October). The current[129] demand for the base period of 31 October 2022 to 30 October 2023 is 10.
7.39 Therefore, where there is identified demand in the borough when an application is submitted, developers of larger sites (sites of 100 homes or more) will be expected to make available a small proportion of the development as serviced self-build and custom build plots, as defined in national guidance and legislation and that meet the criteria set out in Policy SHO5 parts 5a-d. Appropriate marketing of these plots, for example through specialist plot finding services, residential property websites and local estate agents, will be required for a period of at least six months. These plots will not form part of the affordable housing requirement for the development. Detailed guidance for the plots, for example on design, will be provided where appropriate.
[127] Or any subsequent national equivalent standard
[128] Or any subsequent national equivalent standard
[129] As at July 2023