Housing policy questioned as equality issues discussed by PKC members

A councillor has questioned how inclusive Perth and Kinross Council is when it removes the requirement to build affordable homes in larger developments.

SNP Strathallan elected member Tom Gray raised the issue as PKC met recently to discuss the council’s equality report.

Councillors recently called for more affordable housing in rural areas of Perth and Kinross.

It came after a developer was allowed to pay a commuted sum rather than build 13 or 14 affordable homes in the latest phase of a development near Alyth of 55 homes.

Referring to this at the meeting, Cllr Gray said: “Surely this is not exactly equality and diversity.”

He added:“Surely housing or planning must have thoughts against this rather than allowing this to be an increasing development.

“Another one is that it was certainly part of the policy some years ago that affordable housing would be integrated within developments rather than stuck on the side of them.

“Well the trend for sticking them on the side of them is very prevalent now.”

PKC officer Clare Mailer said:“As you will be aware the council and the housing team through the new-build programme and affordable housing are doing exceptionally well. We are leading the way nationally in terms of responding to homelessness.”

Mrs Mailer added:“We are sitting probably now with the fewest number of applicants on our overall waiting list than we have had for a good number of years.

“We sat significantly I think with over 5000 applicants on our housing waiting list for a good number of years. And through a wide range of measures we are meeting the affordable housing needs of our communities throughout Perth and Kinross.

“Very often there might be a mismatch between where this a new-build development and indeed the demand for affordable housing.”

Mrs Mailer told councillors there was a wide-ranging approach to targeting and ensuring provision of affordable housing throughout Perth and Kinross - not just through new-build developments, but through PKC’s common housing register, allocations policy and buy-back scheme.

Mrs Mailer said she agreed with Cllr Gray about ensuring a mixed tenure on developments.

She said:“I absolutely agree with you on that respect.

“It is a real focus for us through our local housing strategy to have mixed tenures and sustainable communities throughout the area – also to ensure we have got a mix of provisions in terms of size and type of accommodation that’s available to meet the widest mix of needs of all of our communities.

“And I think we have got some very good examples of that.

“Blackthorn Place in Blairgowrie is one example of where we have got mixed tenure. We’ve got local authority housing, registered social landlord housing within that development and we’ve also got shared ownership so that absolutely is a strategic priority for us going forward and will continue to be on an ongoing basis.”

Conservative councillor Michael Barnacle said:“My impression is that there is demand for affordable housing in the rural areas and it’s not being met by the practice of the development management committee of accepting these commuted sums.”

Cllr Barnacle said he was very pleased an affordable housing member/officer working group would be up and running and called for it to be linked to the planning member/officer working group.

The Kinross-shire councillor said there was a need to“change that emphasis and actually deliver what our policy is.”

A spokesperson for PKC said previously:“In many instances, households requiring affordable housing prefer to be in areas with better access to shops and services. Higher levels of housing need are generally found within rural settlements with a primary school and other services close at hand.”