Councillors are set to make a decision on plans to lower the number of affordable homes a developer is required to build at a site in Dalton.
Members of Barrow in Furness local area planning committee for Westmorland and Furness Council are recommended to agree to modify a legal agreement with Harry Barker Properties regarding the number of affordable homes on the site opposite Greenhill Ponds off Greystones Lane.
The developer has applied to the council to replace the requirement to provide four affordable units by the provision of a single affordable unit to be rented by a social housing provider in a bid to safeguard the business.
In October 2019 a planning application to construct up to 36 homes on the site was approved by the then Barrow Borough Council.
Planning documents said: “Following the completion of plots 1 to 14, 17 and 18 it became apparent that abnormal costs (particularly with regard to the adverse ground conditions including the need for retaining walls and removal of surplus material) and associated increase in construction costs, brought into question the viability of the project.”
According to plans the profit margin for the development is less than five per cent with a typical developer profit being around 18 per cent.
A supporting statement added: “To safeguard the business and achieve the wider social and environmental benefits of completing the development, the applicant has had no option but to submit a further application to modify the existing Section 106 Agreement.”
A report prepared for the meeting by planning officers said the applicant had demonstrated it is not financially viable to build the agreed affordable housing units and this has been peer reviewed and verified by a specialist consultancy on behalf of the council.
The report added the new proposed modification to the legal agreement was a marked improvement on the previous offer from the developer, which was turned down by the committee.
In April councillors refused an application from the developer to remove the requirement to provide four affordable housing units on the site and contribute £63,000 to the council for the provision of offsite affordable housing provision.
Councillor Tony Callister (Dalton South, Labour) previously said at the planning meeting: “I think if we waiver away from that obligation by agreement, are we setting a precedent for any building development in this area.
“If you put yourself in an agreement to provide affordable housing which is what we are wishing for, you’ve got to stand by that agreement.”
He called on the developer to stand by the contract to the letter.
Councillor Frank Cassidy (Walney Island, Labour) previously labelled the proposal to remove the requirement to build affordable homes as disappointing.
“I would also guess that if you took a poll of the main street in Dalton or in Barrow on a Saturday afternoon, they would all say that we need more affordable homes,” he added.
A supporting statement submitted on behalf of the developer with the new application said: “HBP recognise that the provision of affordable housing is an important planning objective at a national and local level and it has been with great reluctance that circumstances have forced the company to submit the previous and current proposal.
“The company, as a local business, is committed to the area and submitted the current application on the basis that the economic, social and environmental disadvantages (by not completing the development of the site and the severe impact on the business) associated with insisting on the provision of all the affordable housing units were outweighed by the respective advantages of enabling the scheme to be completed.”
Members of Barrow in Furness local area planning committee are recommended to approve the modification to the legal agreement when they meet on September 10 at Barrow Town Hall.
