The human version (we wrote this, not the council)
This policy requires new residential development, including conversions, to provide a mix of home types and sizes that meets current and future housing needs. The mix for market housing should broadly follow the Council's latest evidence, currently the Buckinghamshire Local Housing Needs Assessment 2026, along with any Neighbourhood Development Plan evidence. The mix can be negotiated where developers provide evidence about local market conditions, local character or physical constraints. The proportions are a guide rather than a fixed requirement, but any variation must be fully justified.
An unofficial plain English summary. The official wording below is
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The text below is extracted automatically from the official PDF and may
contain artefacts; the PDF is authoritative.
HO1: Housing mix
1. New residential development, including conversions, will be required to provide a mix of homes to meet current and expected future requirements in the interests of meeting housing need. The mix for market housing shall be in general conformity with the Council’s latest evidence*, and Neighbourhood Development Plan evidence where applicable for the relevant area but can be negotiated having regard to available evidence from developers on local market conditions, local character and any physical factors limiting a particular mix for conversions. *The Council’s latest evidence at this time is in the Buckinghamshire Local Housing Needs Assessment (LHNA) 2026, but this will be subject to monitoring and review and will be updated periodically.
7.6 A variety of housing types and sizes is necessary to meet current and future housing needs of the local population, to enable households to more easily find housing which suits their needs and that they can afford.
7.7 Policy HO1 sets out that local market conditions should be considered if evidence demonstrates this is justified. It is imperative to recognise that an appropriate housing mix will vary between urban and rural locations for example, large scale flatted developments are not provided on small sites in villages. Equally sites in urban areas with good transport links will be more suitable for higher density flatted developments.
7.8 The Buckinghamshire LHNA 2026 provides conclusions on the required mix of market and affordable housing need by house type and size for the plan period, shown in table 6 below. These conclusions consider projected changes in the population and estimates future demand. The proportions are however a guide rather than a requirement, as they may need to be varied based on specific circumstances or evidence. Any variation in the proportions will need to be fully justified, and variations should not take place to simply accord with a developer’s preferences. Additional flexibility is needed within the guidelines, set out below, in Table 6, to account for schemes providing 100% affordable housing.