Council Claims Vacant Building Credit Will Reduce Supply of Affordable Housing

A London borough has claimed that it would have lost a third of its affordable housing provision if the Government’s Vacant Building Credit (VBC) had been applied to recently consented schemes. Based on 14 recently consented major schemes , predominantly in the Vauxhall regeneration area, Lambeth Council said it has calculated that instead of a the current total of 866 affordable units, if VBC had been applied, this figure would have been 592 – a 32% reduction. The VBC introduced by the Government as a means of encouraging the redevelopment of more brownfield sites by easing the requirement on developers to contribute to affordable housing. Read more on the Housing Excellence website.