Policy HO2 Provision of Affordable Housing

Planning permission for the erection of new dwellings or conversion of existing buildings to dwellings will be permitted provided that, where it is viable to do so, the scheme provides affordable housing in accordance with the following:

• On all schemes of 10 or more dwellings or sites of more than 0.33 hectares in Principal and Secondary Settlements, not less than 45% of the total number of dwellings proposed are affordable.
• On schemes of 2 or more units or on sites larger than 0.1 hectares in Service Villages and Coastal Service Villages, not less than 50% of the total number of dwellings proposed are affordable.
• All affordable housing contributions shall enable the provision of the required number of affordable dwellings without the need for public subsidy.
• Provision is made on the application site except for developments of 3 dwellings or fewer where financial contributions in lieu of on-site provision will ensure the same number of dwellings can be built without the need for public subsidy.
• The mix of tenure and size of affordable housing provided reflects the identified housing needs at the time of the proposal as demonstrated in the Strategic Housing Market Assessment and waiting list information and contributes to the Council's target of providing 80% of affordable housing as social rented accommodation.
• The affordable housing provided is made available solely to people in housing need at an affordable cost for the life of the property. (The Council will ensure that any planning permission granted is subject to appropriate conditions and/or planning obligations to secure its affordability in perpetuity); and
• The affordable housing shall be provided in phases as the development progresses and shall be mixed within the development in groups of not more than eight units within each group.

Where this policy would result in a requirement that part of a dwelling should be affordable a financial contribution of equivalent value will be required. In meeting the requirements of this policy, proposals should comply with the provisions of the Planning Obligations Supplementary Planning Document adopted by the Council.