A consortium of developers is challenging West Wiltshire Council’s new affordable housing policy in the High Court.
Persimmon Homes, Hallam Land Management and JS Bloor claim that a last-minute alteration to the local plan, requiring developers to provide serviced affordable housing land to registered social landlords and to pay an advance to cover the building costs, is “unreasonable and irrational”.
They are seeking a court order quashing the policy, saying that it is “unsupported by national policy” and “illegitimately requires the developer to engage in funding the physical provision of social rented housing for a registered social landlord”.
The developers fear that the new requirement, which was introduced at the final stage of the plan preparation and has never been subject to a public inquiry, could add several million pounds to the cost of their 700-home scheme at East Melksham, the district’s single most substantial residential allocation.
The developers had acquired the freehold of the land at Clackers Brook following the publication of an inspector’s report in June 2003, but before the proposed modifications were published in November 2003.
“It was unreasonable for the council to decide not to hold a public inquiry,” they argue. “A public inquiry would have provided independent scrutiny of the new policy, which has effectively been avoided by its late introduction.”
They also claim that the absence of central government funding, which follows the removal of the refundable system of local authority social housing grant in April 2003, is “not a circumstance requiring the transfer of that responsibility to the landowner or developer”.
However, a local authority spokesperson said that the council were “looking forward to defending the policy” at a hearing later this year. “We have no intention of withdrawing from the hearing and will be seeking full costs,” she said.
Developer Wainhomes (South West) Holdings, whose proposed 300-unit scheme at Southview Farm, Trowbridge, will include more than 66 affordable houses, has recently withdrawn a separate challenge to the local plan.
The area’s structure plan allows for the construction of 67,000 additional dwellings between 1991 and 2011, of which around 14,000 are located within the West Wiltshire district.
Under the new policy, West Wiltshire Council will pursue a target of 1,420 affordable homes between 2001 and 2011. The scale of provision will be negotiated on a site-by-site basis, taking into account need, site conditions and the economics of provision.
Hallam Land Management and others v West Wiltshire District Council Administrative Court
Claim Number: CO/3397/04
Claim Date: 14 July 2004
Issued By: Shoosmiths, of Birmingham
References: EGi Legal News 22/04/05
