The human version (we wrote this, not the council)
This section introduces the housing policy guidance annex, which helps explain how the plan's housing policies should be applied. It covers how much affordable housing is required under policies HO.3 and HO.6, and warns that splitting a larger site into smaller parcels will not reduce the requirement, because adjacent or subdivided sites are treated as one. Councils may also refuse schemes that use unusually low density to avoid the affordable housing thresholds. It then introduces the Vacant Building Credit for reusing empty buildings.
An unofficial plain English summary. The official wording below is
what counts at examination; check it before you rely on anything here.
The text below is extracted automatically from the official PDF and may
contain artefacts; the PDF is authoritative.
Annex B - Housing
Policy Guidance
Introduction
This guidance is written to assist understanding and implementation of the housing
policies within the South Warwickshire Local Plan. It should be read in conjunction with
the relevant housing policies and associated explanatory text.
Housing Requirements
Amount of Affordable Housing
The amount of affordable housing required on new developments is set out in
policy HO.3 for general needs housing and policy HO.6 for Specialised Housing. The
matters below cover circumstances that may affect the amount of affordable housing a
site is expected to deliver.
Subdivision
Where the site is a subdivision of a larger site or adjacent to another potential housing
site, the site size for threshold purposes will be taken to be the larger development
site. Therefore, where a site has been subdivided, or is in separate ownerships, the site
size will be that of all the sites taken together.
In determining whether two or more adjacent development sites should be considered
as one, the following will be considered:
• whether a previous application incorporated parts of both sites;
• whether the sites are inter -dependent in any way – for example, functionally
or physically;
• whether there is a community of interest between the two owners; and/or
• whether there is a reasonable prospect of developing both sites together
When applying the applicable affordable housing thresholds, regards will be had to the
density of the development as well as the numbers of units proposed. For example, there
may be instances where a scheme is judged to have an inappropriate density in ord er
to circumvent the policy requirement. In such cases the Local Planning Authority may
refuse the application if the density of the development is contrary to local and national
policy.
Vacant Building Credit
In accordance with paragraph 65 of the NPPF , to support the re -use of brownfield land,
where vacant buildings are being reused or redeveloped, any affordable housing