Thursday, 2 April 2015

Cash Payments Accepted Instead Of Affordable Housing Soar

Councils are accepting soaring levels of cash from developers looking to escape building affordable homes onsite, research has revealed. Freedom of information requests obtained from 196 councils revealed a total of £468.8m in commuted sums had been agreed over four years, rising from £87.2m in 2011/12 to more than £112.8m in 2014/15. More than half said they had not yet reinvested any of the money, which is paid where a developer cannot or will not provide affordable housing onsite as required by planning policies. The research shows that since 2011/12, at least 3,300 affordable homes were ‘not built onsite’ as a result of commuted sums being accepted.  Read more on Inside Housing.

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