To receive the following questions from members of the council under standing order 12.
1. Question from Councillor Bob Johnston to Councillor Mike Murray, Cabinet member for planning policy
Could the Cabinet member please explain the policy and scheme for collecting money paid from developers in lieu of affordable housing, to build affordable housing elsewhere? For example, we have £1 million in reserve from the Old Gaol. How will that be used for affordable housing?
2. Question from Councillor Debby Hallett to Councillor Mike Murray, Cabinet member for planning policy
Could the Cabinet member please update us on the council’s response to the government's current consultation on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework, which ends on 22 February 2016?
3. Question from Councillor Emily Smith to Councillor Roger Cox, Cabinet member for planning (development management and enforcement)
Of all the homes granted full and outline planning permission since 2011, how many have been completed, how many are not yet started, and what actions have Vale taken to speed up construction and make sure homes are delivered as soon as possible?
Minutes:
1. Question from Councillor Bob Johnston to Councillor Roger Cox, Cabinet member for planning development management and housing.
“Could the Cabinet member please explain the policy and scheme for collecting money paid from developers in lieu of affordable housing, to build affordable housing elsewhere? For example, we have £1 million in reserve from the Old Gaol. How will that be used for affordable housing?”
Councillor Cox responded as follows:
“Our policy is to seek affordable housing on site and to only accept commuted sums where it is not viable or achievable to deliver affordable housing on site.
Where we accept a commuted sum, secured within a planning obligations Section 106 agreement, we specify when this should be paid.
Planning obligations are managed and monitored by the council’s Section 106 officer, who ensures the money is paid on the due date.
The Housing Development Team, in liaison with the Cabinet member, is responsible for ensuring commuted sums are used in a range of ways that bring forward affordable housing. The sums may be used to top up affordable housing schemes to improve viability or to meet particular housing needs.
The commuted sum agreed in lieu of provision at Harcourt Way was £1 million.
A payment schedule was agreed with the developer for £100,000 in 2015 and £180,000 per year for each of the next five years to 2020.
Therefore, we do not have £1 million in reserves, but will use those funds in an appropriate way, as opportunities arise, to increase delivery of affordable housing.”
Councillor Cox undertook to provide a written response to a supplementary question which asked if, in light of impending changes to housing benefit which come into force in 2017, he, as Cabinet Member, could confirm whether any social housing schemes in the Vale have either been postponed or scrapped because they will no longer be financially viable.
2. Question from Councillor Debby Hallett to Councillor Mike Murray, Cabinet member for planning policy.
“Could the Cabinet member please update us on the council’s response to the government's current consultation on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework, which ends on 22 February 2016?”
Councillor Murray responded as follows:
“The current government consultation seeks views on proposed changes to national planning policy on a range of issues including, broadening the definition of affordable housing, increasing the density of development around commuter hubs, development on brownfield land and delivery of starter homes.
South and Vale councils have responded jointly to this consultation. Our response may be seen on our website within the planning policy section, http://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/services-and-advice/planning-and-building/planning-policy.”
3. Question from Councillor Emily Smith to Councillor Roger Cox, Cabinet member for planning development management and housing
“Of all the homes granted full and outline planning permission since 2011, how many have been completed, how many are not yet started, and what actions have Vale taken to speed up construction and make sure homes are delivered as soon as possible?”
Councillor Roger Cox responded as follows:
“Planning permission has been consented for 3948 homes since 2011.
The total number of homes constructed since 2011 is just below 2000.
As developers do not keep us informed of individual completions, we carry out periodic surveys doing site inspections and correlating our observations with the data provided by developers, to arrive at an accurate figure for starts on sites and completions. This completions number will be updated after the next survey which will take place after the end of the financial year. For the same reason it is not possible to say how many homes have not started. This detailed information will be available and published on completion of the next survey.
This council is a top performing authority in its speed of determining planning applications. We have put in place streamlined processes and we have cut through red tape in negotiations with developers to accelerate the process of issuing planning consents. However, it remains the responsibility of developers to speed up construction as the council is not empowered to force them to do this.
There are several reasons why developers set their own pace for delivery, including levels of purchaser interest. Nevertheless, we work closely with developers to help them overcome barriers to delivery, including taking a lead on negotiations to tackle any delays being experienced in relation to the work of statutory providers.
Another example of the work we do to speed up development, is our partnership with the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). The HCA operates a Local Infrastructure Fund, which provides front funded loans. This assists developers with cash flows in the early period of a development, thereby enabling them to achieve site set up and start house building more quickly.
And as part of our work, on an on-going basis, we explore all opportunities for accelerating housing development, as it is in both the councils and the communities’ interests for us to do so.”
In response to a supplementary question regarding what other initiatives Cabinet had considered to speed up housing development Councillor Cox responded that every planning permission included a timescale for delivery.”