House builders will not pay for services
DEVELOPMENT OF 100 PER CENT AFFORDABLE HOUSING SCHEME WILL ESCAPE PAYING TOWARDS LOCAL COMMUNITY FACILITIES
TWO developers who want to build 25 new homes on grassland in Newhall would not be made to pay towards local healthcare services if their plan gets the go ahead.
The homes, which would be a mixture of two and three-bedroom properties, would be built on grazing land off Orchard Street. But the developers would not be requested to pay cash towards local facilities affected by the proposed development – otherwise their scheme would not make a profit.
It is usual when developers build new homes that they pay towards local facilities that any new occupants would want to use, such as doctors surgeries. Councils decide how much money they should pay via “Section 106 agreements”.
In this case, Derby and Southern Derbyshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) had asked for a financial contribution of £12,096 to be used towards enhancements and extensions at Newhall Surgery to increase clinical capacity at this practice to accommodate the new homes.
Derbyshire Wildlife Trust has asked for £9,176 for the off-site provision of 0.9 acres of wildflower grassland, and the National Forest Company has requested £4,200.
However, a viability appraisal which was submitted alongside the application and was in agreement with an independent District Valuer’s report, said that due to the residual land value and the fact the development would be 100 per cent affordable housing, “this clearly demonstrates that even without any contributions and with the benefit of grant funding, the scheme is at the margins of viability”.
The report added that paying community contributions would only “exacerbate the viability concern” and the applicants believed it would be “unreasonable for the council to impose an additional burden on the development”, while the scheme provided economic benefits in the form of a New Homes Bonus and increased council tax receipts.
Peter Bowen and Steve Mcgloughlin have applied to South Derbyshire District Council for permission to build the homes of which 20 would be owned by Trent and Dove Housing and five by the district council. Some may be sold through the Right to Buy process.
The site was formerly agricultural and was presently used for grazing horses, being mostly grass with some buildings which were once used as an abattoir.
If approved by the council’s planning committee on October 20, these buildings would be bulldozed and there would be 15 two-bedroom homes and 10 three-bedroom homes.
A report by the applicants to the council added: “The proposal would provide an inclusive development that addresses difficult constraints of the site having undertaken many pre-application discussions.
“The proposed development would provide high quality housing designed to fit with the scale and character of the area of Newhall and improve the street scene.”
One letter of objection claimed there were too many homes and there would be no green spaces left.
The council’s planning officers have recommended that the scheme is approved saying that demand for the type, size and tenure of the affordable homes proposed in this area “outweigh” the requirements for planning obligations sought.