Policy information sourced from St Albans District Local Plan

7A Affordable Housing in Towns and Specified Settlements

The District Council’s target for affordable housing is to secure at least 200 dwellings per annum through new house building and conversions. In the towns and specified settlements as defined in Policy 2. the Council will therefore normally seek to negotiate an element of affordable housing on sites of over 0.4 hectares and on sites of under this size where 1.5 or more dwellings are proposed. This applies to the sites listed in the schedules in Policies 4 and 5 and also to other sites that may be brought forward for development. The policy also applies to the Hill End/Cell Barnes and Napsbury Hospital sites (see Policies 137 and 139). Planning applications will be assessed against the following criteria:

  • on each suitable site, the Council will seek to negotiate a proportion of affordable housing based on site and marketing conditions and local housing need;
  • secure arrangements must he made to ensure that:
    • the housing is reserved permanently for people with strong local connections, namely:
      • those who live in the District;
      • those who used to live in the District, but have moved out because of a lack of affordable housing;
      • those who have employment in the District;
    • the housing is for sale, rent or equity sharing at a low cost, not only for the initial occupants but also for subsequent occupants (1).
    • Such arrangements will normally involve a housing association or a landlord approved by the Housing Corporation; or covenants between the original landowner and developer; or agreements under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and Section 33 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982; or planning conditions;
  • proposals should normally comply with Policy 4 (sites in towns) or Policy 5 (sites in specified settlements) and with Policy 69. Policy 70 also applies with the exception of parking provision, which will be considered under Policy 40, criterion (v) and the results of Project 5.

In accordance with Government advice, any housing permitted under this policy will count towards the dwelling increase proposed by.

Footnote

(1) The Council will monitor house prices and rented housing costs on an annual basis (see Policy Intention 35 and para. 21.3). This will be done by reference to regular housing price indices such as those produced by Hertfordshire County Council, Nationwide Anglia Building Society and the Halifax. Building Society, and information on rental levels such as the NFHA (National Federation of Housing Associations) CORE data. Subject to the results of this monitoring, the Council will expect the price of affordable housing to be based on the following principles:

  • affordable housing for sale or equity sharing should be affordable to people whose incomes are insufficient to enable them to afford adequate housing locally on the open market;
  • affordable housing for rent should be let at a rental level in line with current rents for new housing association lettings in the area.

For more information please see the Local Plan