Major developments in Peterborough get go ahead with no affordable homes as city misses out on 2,000 low-cost properties

The Peterborough Telegraph can reveal that since 2015, 21 developments of 15 or more properties have received the green light without needing to deliver any affordable homes.

A further nine have also received the go ahead despite missing the city council’s target for 30 per cent affordable home provision.

The decisions have potentially deprived the city of 2,000 properties for low-income families.

The council has acknowledged that the city needs 559 affordable homes each year just to keep up with demand, but between 2016 and 2019 only 399 were built - just 13 per cent of the total number of new homes in that period.

The failure to meet the affordable homes target is now being used by developers seeking to build on farmland in Glinton despite a government inspector previously ruling that the green space should be protected.

Affordable homes are classed as properties which are available at 20 per cent or more below market value.

A Peterborough Telegraph investigation can reveal that:

. Since 2015, Peterborough City Council has approved 21 developments of 15 properties or more with no requirement for any affordable homes to be built. The combined total of dwellings at these sites is 2,416. This includes five schemes where affordable home provision was exempt due to government policy

. Eight of those developments - totalling 1,915 homes - got the go ahead with no affordable homes required after the council decided that they would not be commercially viable otherwise

. Overall, 30 large schemes - a total of 7,588 homes - were approved despite missing the council’s 30 per cent target for affordable homes

. If the 30 per cent target was met for all significant developments over this period, excluding those which are exempt, they would deliver approximately 2,000 more affordable homes in Peterborough.

Developers can try to reduce the number of affordable homes they build at a site by stating that it would be commercially unviable to go ahead with the 30 per cent policy.

This has left the council either having to accept a smaller percentage of affordable homes or potentially see no homes built at all.

A spokesman for PricedOut, which campaigns in England for affordable house prices, said: “Developers negotiating affordable housing contributions down well below what councils would want is unfortunately commonplace. Our system of assessing viability protects developer profits at the expense of affordable homes.

“We need a system that makes affordable housing provision fixed and non-negotiable. That would provide certainty for developers, deliver more affordable housing and bring land prices down, which would help everyone - apart from landowners, whose wealth is largely unearned.”

Major developments which have been given the go ahead despite falling comfortably short of the 30 per cent target include ones at Cardea and Hampton.

Since 2015, the council has approved the building of 1,048 homes at Cardea in Stanground, and 4,124 in Hampton, of which just 252 in total need to be affordable.

Planning approval was also granted for 5,350 properties at the Great Haddon site, close to the AlM, of which just 15 per cent (803) need to be affordable homes.

Meanwhile, three schemes at Fletton Quays, near Peterborough’s South Bank, have been approved with no affordable homes due to viability reasons. The number of properties in those schemes totals 738.

A further 307 properties have received the go ahead for the same reason at the derelict North Westgate site, north of Queensgate.

The need to provide 559 affordable homes in Peterborough each year is stated in the council’s Local Plan following a Strategic Housing Market Assessment.

The Local Plan, which sets out how the city will expand until 2036, says the 559 annual figure is approximately 57 per cent of the number of dwellings set to be built over this period, far in excess of the 30 per cent affordable home target the council currently has for major developments.

The council and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority have made significant efforts over the past couple of years to step up affordable home provision in the city.

The council has a joint venture company with housing association Cross Keys Homes - Medesham Homes - and is looking to build its own council houses again.

The combined authority - the county’s mayoral body - is also funding several projects where all homes are classed as affordable.

Meanwhile, developers are now highlighting the shortage of planned affordable homes to boost their chances of receiving planning permission in places which have not been earmarked for properties in the Local Plan.

Back in April, Bourne-based housebuilder Larkfleet Homes submitted an application for 34 affordable rent and shared ownership homes on farmland off Lincoln Road in Glinton.

This was despite the fact that a previous planning application on the site from Larkfleet was refused by the council, with an appeal by the developers later being rejected by a government inspector who ruled that development should not take place on the countryside.

In its latest application to the council, Larkfleet highlighted the lack of affordable housing in the city as a key reason why its proposals should be approved, stating: “The affordable housing need is demonstrably not being met in the local authority’s area, be it historically or for the planned future.”

A spokesperson for Peterborough City Council said: “The council is committed to delivering much needed affordable homes across the city, either via agreements with developers or through direct build or purchase of properties itself.

“But, the reality is that national government planning policy restricts the council from seeking the full level of affordable housing off developers if developers can demonstrate that it would make their development scheme unviable.

“Whilst the council scrutinises such developer claims rigorously, if it is demonstrated that the developer can not fully deliver the required quota of affordable homes then the council is not permitted, by government, to refuse development. This means that some development schemes are approved without the full amount of affordable homes we would like to see.

“Nevertheless, over the past 10 years (2009-2019), 26 per cent of all homes completed in the city have been affordable homes, which amounts to 2,500 new affordable homes built in those 10 years. Thus, despite the challenges we face, the council has a very good track record of delivering all types of housing, including affordable housing.