Planning Obligations and Affordable Housing SPD
8. Glossary Comment
Affordable Housing: housing for sale or rent, for those whose needs are not met by the market (including housing that provides a subsidised route to home ownership and/or is for essential local workers); and which complies with one or more of the following definitions:
- Social Rent: meets all of the following conditions: (a) the rent is set in accordance with the Government’s rent policy for Social Rent; (b) the landlord is a registered provider; and (c) it includes provisions to remain at an affordable price for future eligible households, or for the subsidy to be recycled for alternative affordable housing provision.
- Other affordable housing for rent: meets all of the following conditions: (a) the rent is set in accordance with the Government’s rent policy for Affordable Rent, or is at least 20% below local market rents (including service charges where applicable); (b) the landlord is a registered provider, except where it is included as part of a Build to Rent scheme (in which case the landlord need not be a registered provider); and (c) it includes provisions to remain at an affordable price for future eligible households, or for the subsidy to be recycled for alternative affordable housing provision. For Build to Rent schemes affordable housing for rent is expected to be the normal form of affordable housing provision (and, in this context, is known as Affordable Private Rent).
- Discounted market sales housing: is that sold at a discount of at least 20% below local market value. Eligibility is determined with regard to local incomes and local house prices. Provisions should be in place to ensure housing remains at a discount for future eligible households.
- Other affordable routes to home ownership: is housing provided for sale that provides a route to ownership for those who could not achieve home ownership through the market. It includes shared ownership, relevant equity loans, other low cost homes for sale (at a price equivalent to at least 20% below local market value) and rent to buy (which includes a period of intermediate rent). Where public grant funding is provided, there should be provisions for the homes to remain at an affordable price for future eligible households, or for any receipts to be recycled for alternative affordable housing provision, or refunded to Government or the relevant authority specified in the funding agreement.
Biodiversity Net Gain: The enhancement of biodiversity through the planning process. Development is expected to result in a minimum of a 10% increase in biodiversity compared to its pre-development use.
Community Infrastructure levy (CIL): A levy allowing local authorities to raise funds from owners or developers of land undertaking new building projects in their area.
Development Plan Document (DPD): Formal plans that set out policies for a particular geographical area. They are subject to public consultation and a Sustainability Appraisal. They must also be considered at independent examination and obtain Council approval before they can be adopted.
First Homes: A form of affordable housing delivered on new-build housing sites, sold at 30% to 50% of market value to first-time house buyers.
Gross Internal Area (GIA): The internal area of a building, measured to the internal face of the perimeter walls (including party walls in semi-detached, terraced, or flatted developments) at each level. GIA is defined in the RICS Code of Measuring Practice (6th Edition) and is used in the calculation of CIL, affordable housing financial contributions and vacant building credit. Table 2.0 of the RICS guidance sets out what is and is not included in the calculation of GIA; garages and areas with a height of less than 1.5 metres are included, canopies, greenhouses and garden stores are not.
Infrastructure Business Plan (IBP): This document prioritises the infrastructure needed to support growth identified in the Local Plan via a five year rolling programme for its delivery, together with possible funding broken down by source. It is reviewed on an annual basis.
Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP): This will set out the current planned and required infrastructure, when it comes forward, who will be leading on each aspect and funding responsibilities.
Local Plan: The plan for the future development of the local area, drawn up by the local planning authority in consultation with the community. In law this is described as the development plan documents adopted under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. Current core strategies or other planning policies, which under the regulations would be considered to be development plan documents, form part of the Local Plan. The term includes old policies which have been saved under the 2004 Act.
Material Consideration: Any factor relevant to the determination of a planning application or appeal, subject to limits set out in planning statute law, government circulars and guidance.
Mitigation Measures:These are measures requested/carried out in order to limit the damage by a particular development or activity.
Nutrient Neutrality: The requirement the developments will not exceed the nutrients generated by the existing land use, particularly in their surface water runoff and wastewater.
Section 38 Agreement: Whereas part of a development, it is proposed to construct a new estate road for residential, industrial or general purpose traffic the normal legal means by which the road becomes a public highway is via an agreement under section 38 of the Highways Act 1980. Once the new estate road construction has been completed and has satisfactorily attained its provisional maintenance period (usually one year from opening for public use) it is adopted by the Local Highway Authority as a public highway. "Adoption" means that the Local Highway Authority takes over all future responsibility for the highway works and that it becomes part of the public highway with all inferred rights.
Section 106 Agreement: A legal agreement made under section 106 of the 1990 Town and Country Planning Act. They are generally entered into by agreement between the landowner and the Local Planning Authority, although a landowner may also offer a unilateral, "one-sided", Section 106 planning obligation. The planning obligation relates to the land within the planning application, rather than the person or organisation that develops the land. It is therefore recorded as a land charge, and the obligations under it run with the land ownership until they are fully complied with, often indefinitely. Planning obligations are used for three purposes to:
- Prescribe the nature of development to comply with policy (for example, requiring a given portion of housing to be affordable);
- Compensate for loss or damage created by a development (for example, loss of open space); or
- Mitigate a development's impact (for example, through contributions to mitigate against harm to the Special Protection Area).
They must meet the following three legal tests:
- Be necessary to make the development acceptable in planning terms;
- Be directly related to the development, and
- Be fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the development.
Section 278 Agreement: A legal agreement completed between the developer and the Local Planning Authority, under Section 278 of the Highways Act 1980, where a development requires works to be carried out on the existing adopted highway. These agreements provide a financial mechanism for ensuring delivery of mitigation works identified and determined as necessary for planning permission to be granted.
Self Build and Custom Build Housing: Self build homes are defined as those where someone directly organises the design and construction of their home. This covers a wide range of projects from a traditional DIY self-build home to projects where the self-builder employs someone to build their home for them. Community led projects can also be defined as self-build.
Viability Assessment: An assessment of the financial viability of a development, taking into account a range of different factors such as location, type of site, size of scheme and scale of contributions to infrastructure and facilities.
