In recent weeks, Cumbria Crack has covered two stories where builders have tried to remove planning restrictions in relation to the provision of affordable housing from their developments.
The first, on the April 3 reported that Westmorland and Furness Council’s area planning committee took just six minutes to kick out an application to remove the requirement to provide fourth affordable properties on their development at Dalton.
The second, this week, have asked for the condition to include 12 affordable houses pertaining to their grant of permission to build 40 houses at Allithwaite.
This is becoming an unwelcome trend which, despite what these builders may say, smacks of profiteering.
Yes, we need more housing and when you look at the plans across Cumbria, I am sure we are doing our bit to increase house building so that those who need a home can get one.
While no one begrudges builders wanting to make a profit, there must be some control of prices so that some of those that are built are available for example, to first time buyers who are scrimping and saving to get on the property ladder.
If we take Cumbria as a whole, the county contains areas of extreme beauty where there will always be housing at a premium.
Because of the cost of housing in the central lakes, the areas which attract this premium are getting larger, reaching out to those areas where affordable housing was, up to now, more available.
There is no doubt that locals from, say, Keswick, Ambleside, Grasmere and other prime locations, find it virtually impossible to compete with either the second home owner who, with their wealth, is able to withstand the newly introduced double council charge.
They also find it impossible to compete with those who ‘buy to let’ especially when the let is short term, Airbnb-style lets.
So, it is only right, that where builders apply for planning permission that they should be required to have a proportion of their homes to be available to those who cannot afford the eye watering prices in some areas of our county.
I read the reasons why these builders wish to have these conditions removed.
One says it is because they encountered ‘abnormal costs and adverse ground conditions’. Perhaps if they had done a proper survey right at the outset, these ‘adverse ground conditions’ would have been identified and, in any case, they bought the land and applied for permission, presumably, as a business venture so, tough – taking the hits alongside making the profits is what business is all about. You took a punt and it has come back to haunt you.
The other builder claims that they have encountered unforeseen site abnormal which, combined with extended interest costs, make the development unviable. In that case, walk away – don’t expect the local council taxpayers to step up to help you out – you aren’t a charity!
But of course, builders could charge for those homes that aren’t covered by the affordability condition, whatever you want or can get away with. Ball in your court.
These stories also beg the question what is affordable and who foots the bill for the increased needs of the local community?
Will it mean longer waits to get to see a GP because their patient list has increased?
Who will pay for the extra school places for children of families attracted to these developments?
Who will take on maintenance of roads once the development roads are adopted?
In the north of the county, we currently have a public consultation regarding the potential for 10,000 homes at St Cuthbert’s Garden Village (village???? If they fill all the houses, that is a population of 40,000 – that’s 3.5 times the size of Penrith, five times the size of Cockermouth, and eight times the size of Wigton…..).
It begs the question, where will these 10,000 families come from and can the housing market sustain this number of new offerings over the next 10 years?
And, when you add on the £140m being spent o the Carlisle Southern Link Road, how much more money will be required to provide all the services this ‘village’ will require, or have we already spent it digging up Carlisle city centre?
While businesses need to make profits, these should not be inflated because the local council charge payers pick up the extras (school, health, etc) and they should not be given a get out of jail card just because they didn’t do their homework.
About Cumbria Cat
Born in Cumberland and, now, back living in Cumberland, having spent most of the past 50 years in some place called Cumbria, this cat has used up all nine lives as well as a few others.
Always happy to curl up on a friendly lap, the preference is for a local lap and not a lap that wants to descend on the county to change it into something it isn’t.
After all, you might think Cumbria/Cumberland/Westmorland is a land forged by nature – the glaciers, the rivers, breaking down the volcanic rocks or the sedimentary layers – but, in reality, the Cumbria we know today was forged by generations of local people, farmers, miners, quarriers, and foresters.
This cat is a local moggy, not a Burmese, Ocicat or Persian, and although I have been around the block a few times, whenever I jump, I end up on my feet back in my home county.
I am passionate about the area, its people, past, present and future, and those who come to admire what we hold dear, be it lakes and mountains, wild sea shores, vibrant communities or the history as rich and diverse as anywhere in the world.
