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Dismay at Horsham's affordable housing
AS A LOCAL resident with children who may need affordable housing in this area in the future, I have been following the progress of the Berkeley Homes and Countryside Homes planning applications for 2,000 houses to the west of Horsham.
These are supposed to deliver 40 per cent (800) badly needed affordable houses for local people, in accordance with Horsham's planning policies.
I was therefore pleased to see that Horsham's planning committee has not followed the planning officers' advice to approve the Berkeley Homes planning application, because of concerns that only 20 per cent affordable housing was being offered.
However, the decision has only been deferred to allow further negotiation with Berkeley Homes. A recent planning appeal decision by the Secretary of State for a large housing development in Cambridge was referred to at the committee meeting.
I have taken the time to read through this decision. It clearly indicates that the full policy requirement for affordable housing should be adhered to and that if this impacts upon land value then the land value should be adjusted.
This is the opposite of the arrangement proposed in Berkeley Homes' planning application. A heavily censored copy of Horsham's valuation of the proposed Berkeley development is helpfully posted on the Horsham Society website.
Despite the removal of many figures it is clear that it takes the land value to be the purchase price that Berkeley agreed with the landowner before the recession.
Therefore it would appear to be quite clear that the reason for the proposed reduction in affordable housing is so that the landowner can receive an historic, inflated value for the land.
In other words Horsham residents are expected to accept only 20 per cent affordable housing (200 less than required by Horsham's own planning policies) so that the landowner is cushioned from the fall in land value that results from the recession. The Cambridge decision clearly shows that this is the wrong approach.
The affordable housing requirement should dictate the land value, rather than an historic land value dictating the level of affordable housing. I hope that the planning committee will now stick to its guns and insist that 40 per cent affordable housing is delivered from day one and that if necessary, the land value be adjusted to accommodate this.
IAN DEMPSEY
Old Guildford Road
Broadbridge Heath
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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