Government plans put new affordable housing at “serious risk” in National Parks

Government plans put new affordable housing at “serious risk” in National Parks

November 12, 2014

England’s ten National Parks have expressed their concern at Government proposals that put at risk their ability to achieve more affordable housing in National Parks. In an unusual step, all ten have written to Communities Secretary of State, Eric Pickles MP asking for changes to the Government’s proposals for reforming Section 106 agreements.

The Government consulted earlier this year on introducing a threshold in Section 106 agreements (used in planning) proposing a threshold of ten units below which local planning authorities would not be able to require the new housing to be affordable. In National Parks most sites for development tend to be small, infill opportunities and conversions for new affordable housing development. The introduction of any threshold, even one lower than ten units, in the words of the ten Chairs “risks seriously threatening our ability to facilitate affordable housing in National Parks for local needs”.

Chair of National Parks England and the North York Moors National Park Authority, Jim Bailey said:

“Reforming Section 106 agreements might sound like a technical boring bit of planning, but in fact these changes go to the heart of how we can respond to the need for affordable housing in our rural communities. The National Park Authorities are committed to supporting living working communities. This proposal simply won’t help that in rural areas and we hope the Government will listen and exempt National Parks from the change.”