Affordable housing statement - Planning validation requirements

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Planning document information

Description 

An affordable housing statement explains how your proposed residential development meets the core strategy policies in our local plan.  

You need to submit an affordable housing statement if you are making an application for residential new build and your proposal is for: 

  • 10 or more dwellings in rural areas 
  • 15 or more dwellings in Braintree, Witham, or Halstead 
  • A site of 0.5 hectares or more in Braintree, Witham, or Halstead 

Guidance 

The affordable housing statement you submit should include an executive summary and be clear, easy to read and jargon free. 

You affordable housing statement must include: 

  • the percentage of affordable housing units in your proposal  
  • how this ratio relates to the 30 per cent and 40 per cent requirement set out in our core strategy policies 
  • the comparative size mix by number of bedrooms between affordable and open market units 
  • the mix of units by tenure with an explanation of the proposed mix 
  • details of any registered social landlords you are proposing as partners of the development 
  • a plan showing the location of affordable housing units and their number of bedrooms 
  • a detailed explanation of any financial contribution 
  • details of any management charges that you are proposing to levy over the affordable units 

We recommend that you speak to before you make your application if you think your scheme qualifies for a vacant building credit. 

You can get help and advice from our Duty Planner on affordable housing statements and other types of planning applications. 

You can get detailed feedback on your proposal by using our pre-application advice service. 

Personal and confidential statement 

We may publish any information you submit as part of your application. You must tell us if there is any information you do not want us to publish when you submit your application.  

If however, we believe that this information is in the public interest, we reserve the right to publish it.  

We may also decide parts of your submission are not in the public interest and may redact this information. This information may include telephone numbers, email addresses and signatures. 

When you need to submit this information

You need to submit an affordable housing statement if you are making an application for residential new build and your proposal is for: 

  • 10 or more dwellings in rural areas 
  • 15 or more dwellings in Braintree, Witham, or Halstead 
  • A site of 0.5 hectares or more in Braintree, Witham, or Halstead 
Validation requirements

Required by 

  • National requirement. You can find details of this requirement in paragraphs 63 and 173 of the National Planning Policy Framework 
  • Local plan policy - SP1 & SP2 
  • Local plan policy - LPP32
  • Local plan policy - LPP16
  • Local plan policy - LPP20
  • Local plan policy - LPP22

These policies can be found in the Local Plan 2013 - 2033 document