North Somerset Affordable Housing Policy

North Somerset originally adopted their Core Strategy back in April 2012; however, after a number of recommended changes, a fully updated version was further adopted in January 2017. It states that it “sets out the broad long-term vision” and focuses “on place shaping and the creation of sustainable communities”.

Policy CS16 of the Core Strategy sets out the expectations regarding affordable housing in the area, this can be seen below:

 Delivering strong and inclusive communities CS16: Affordable housing Affordable housing comprises social rented, affordable rented and intermediate housing provided to eligible households whose needs are not met by the market. On-site affordable housing provision will be sought to meet local needs on all residential developments of 10 dwellings or more (or on sites of 0.3 hectare or above). On sites of 5-9 dwellings the council will seek to negotiate either on-site provision or a financial contribution towards the provision of affordable housing. Within North Somerset the target for the provision of affordable housing is at least 150 dwellings per annum. To reflect identified needs this will be provided as 82% social rented housing and 18% intermediate housing. This proportion will be reviewed in relation to affordable rent and clarified in the revised Affordable Housing SPD. The precise size and type of affordable housing to be provided on individual sites will be determined through negotiation, guided by the Strategic Housing Market Assessment, data from the housing needs register, and local housing needs surveys. A local lettings approach will ensure that priority is given to local people. The presumption is that to create mixed and balanced communities affordable housing will be provided on-site without the need for public subsidy. Only in exceptional circumstances where it can be robustly justified, off-site provision or a financial contribution in lieu of off-site provision (of equivalent value) may be acceptable where it contributes to the objective of creating mixed and balanced communities. The capacity of a site to deliver a level of affordable housing that can be supported financially will be determined by individual site viability analysis. This analysis will take into consideration existing use values, as well as other site specific factors. The assessment will be made having regard to the residual land value once the cost of development has been deducted. There is no upper limit to the potential affordable housing provision or contribution, but a benchmark of 30% will be sought as a starting point. This benchmark is aimed at meeting local need. Local need is not fixed and changes over time and can vary between housing type, size and tenure. The policy refers to currently identified need. Guidance on the level of contribution expected from sites below the threshold will be set out elsewhere following viability assessment and reviewed on a regular basis.

As seen above, there are different requirements based on the number of dwellings proposed in a development and also various methods of delivery.

For developments providing 10+ units or sites of 0.3ha or more, an on-site provision of affordable housing will generally be required. For sites of 5-9 dwellings this may be sought either on-site or as a financial contribution. The benchmark aim is for 30% affordable housing, but this is noted as a starting point subject to negotiation.

Currently, a new Somerset Local Plan is in development which will incorporate all of the different districts that have their own policies now. However, there is no indication as to when this new document will be ready.

S106 Management would recommend a site-specific viability assessment to be carried out on all developments of 5+ dwellings in North Somerset, particularly schemes under 15 dwellings in the current market environment.

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