8 Maidstone Borough Council Maidstone’s objectively assessed housing need
Maidstone borough council has been working towards a figure of 14,080 homes up until now but a recent independent study by consultants G L Hearn has found that the borough’s objectively assessed need is 19,600 new dwellings up to 2031.
The objective assessment is based on the latest projections of the borough’s population growth over the next 20 years, and the need to support economic growth, and to provide suitable housing for a range of ages, tastes and incomes. Maidstone will need a sustainable mix of housing for an ageing population, young people and families looking to remain in the area where they grew up.
The Soho Square based consultants, one of the UK’s leading practices, conclude that affordable homes will remain a priority with a need for 345 affordable homes each year over the period up to 2031. Currently 43% of households do not have an income to enable them to purchase a home. Homes will be needed for rent and shared ownership - part rent part buy which allow people to get on the housing ladder.
Meeting the needs of older people will be a matter of considerable scale in the borough due to the projected growth in the over 65 population who will need specialist and extra care housing. There will also be a need for smaller properties as older households downsize.
The borough council is now working to assess whether the need can be met before setting a housing target up to 2031. The target will include homes already built or in the planning system. Since 2011, 3,706 homes have already been built, have planning permission to be built or are awaiting Section 106 agreements to complete their planning permission.
Housing sites
Of the 190 sites submitted for potential housing use during a call for sites in 2013, currently only 60 are being recommended for development due to strict criteria around suitability.
Each site has been rigorously judged against a range of national and local planning criteria, regulations and policy, including sustainable location, ecology, highways, access to services, flood risk, landscape, heritage impacts, and adjacent uses.
Further potential areas for housing that did not come forward in the call for sites have also been identified by the council and have been subject to the same strict assessment criteria.
As a result the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment has identified possible sites for 8,241 dwellings. All of these sites will be consulted upon and everyone will have the chance to have their say in spring 2014.
This consultation will be accompanied by a further call for sites to try to meet the gap between the borough’s objectively assessed housing need and the currently identified supply.
Protecting the Brownfield priority
The council’s priority will be to use previously developed sites first. In the five years 2007 to 2012, 87% of housing in the borough was on brownfield sites. It also proposes to focus development at existing settlements rather than creating new ‘villages’, focussing on those areas with the infrastructure to sustain development. Resources for additional infrastructure will be drawn from a range of sources including Section 106 agreements, and in the future Community Infrastructure Levy payments and the New Homes Bonus.
Sites for the remaining dwellings are still to be found and the National Planning Policy Framework allows for a number to be identified in the form of broad locations, rather than specific sites. The council is currently considering options for these broad locations, including development in the town centre.
countryside When adopted, the Maidstone Borough Local Plan will give the council power to refuse development in unsuitable areas, protecting vital green space and countryside and ensuring that development is sustainable and appropriate for the borough.
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