Policy information sourced from the Chelmsford Local Plan 2013-2036 PDF.

DM2: Affordable Housing and Rural Exception Sites.

A) Affordable Housing

The Council will require the provision of 35% of the total number of residential units to be provided and maintained as affordable housing within all new residential development sites which:

  • comprise of 11 or more residential units.

In considering the suitability of affordable housing, the Council will require that:

  • the mix, size, type and cost of affordable homes will meet the identified housing need of the Council’s area as established by housing need assessments (as updated from time to time) reported in the current Strategic Housing Market Assessment and be appropriately weighted to ensure that the provision makes at least a proportionate contribution to the categories of greatest housing need; and
  • the affordable housing is integrated into residential layouts so as to avoid the over-concentration of affordable housing in any particular location within the development site and designed in such a way as to aid visual integration between market and affordable elements of a scheme; and
  • developers and owners enter into planning obligations in order to provide the affordable housing and to ensure it remains at an affordable price for future eligible households, or for the subsidy to be recycled for alternative affordable housing provision.

Proposals that would sub-divide or under-develop sites in order to avoid making the affordable housing contribution will be refused.

B) Rural Exception Sites

Planning permission will be granted for affordable housing on small sites within Designated Rural Areas, which would not otherwise be released for housing, in order to meet local rural housing need where:

  • the Council is satisfied that there is clear evidence, supplied by the applicant, of need for the number and type of housing proposed within the Parish; and
  • the site is adjacent to a Defined Settlement Boundary and it is accessible to local services and facilities; and
  • the appropriate legal agreements are entered into for the affordable housing with the Council, to ensure that all dwellings will remain available for affordable housing, and exclusively for local need, in perpetuity, and that the necessary management of the scheme can be permanently secured; and
  • the site is not subject to any other overriding environmental or other planning constraints.

Where it can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Council that market housing is essential to cross-subsidise the delivery of affordable housing on rural exception sites:

  • the proportion of market housing must not exceed 50%;
  • the market and affordable housing must not be distinguishable in design quality.

For more information, please visit Chelmsford’s Local Plan here.