Hackney Affordable Housing Policy

Hackney’s new local plan was adopted in July 2020, it states that it “sets out the Council’s growth strategy and an approach to managing land uses, alongside planning policies and planning guidance for places and neighborhoods".

Policy LP13 of the Local Plan sets out the expectations regarding affordable housing in the borough, this can be seen below:

v. Other affordable housing tenure to those outlined in B1.iv will be permitted where it can be demonstrated to be genuinely affordable relative to local ward level incomes. vi. Off-site affordable housing or payments in-lieu will only be considered in truly exceptional circumstances where the Council is satisfied that off-site provision would secure a better outcome in meeting the housing need. Off-site affordable housing and payments in lieu will be required to be equivalent to the 50% requirement, subject to viability. 2. Schemes of 1-9 units: i. Schemes which fall below the 10 unit threshold will be required to provide on-site provision or payments in lieu up to the equivalent of 50% of housing delivered as affordable housing, subject to viability. Further guidance will be set out in the Hackney Housing SPD and Planning Contributions (S106) SPD. C. Where additional homes are proposed through amended planning applications (i.e. through re-submissions or variations of existing planning applications or submission of a new planning application for an extension resulting in an increase in homes delivered) within four years of the commencement of the original planning permission, affordable housing requirements stated in the rest of this policy will apply to the total number of net new homes. D. Where development sites are split, or separate proposals are brought forward on neighbouring or nearby sites which are physically or functionally linked, affordable housing requirements will be assessed on the total number of net residential units proposed across all related sites.

As seen above, there are different requirements based on the number of dwellings proposed in a development and also various ways of delivering what is needed.

For developments providing 10+ units, the expectation is that 50% will be provided as on-site affordable housing, only in exceptional circumstances will an off-site payment in-lieu be considered, this being an equivalent monetary value of 50%. Compared to developments of 1-9 units which has the option to provide on-site contributions or a payment in-lieu.

The Hackney S106 Contribution SPD (July 2020) informs us that a financial contribution is usually expected based on schemes of 1-9 units, but depending on the location of the development will determine how the payment in-lieu is calculated. Within the City Fringe area a payment of £60,000 per unit will be expected, compared to the rest of the borough which only requires £50,000 per unit.

Affordable housing requirements are not just restricted to use Class C3 dwellings within Hackney, they also cover use Class C2 (student housing and housing for older and vulnerable people). The table below outlines the expectations for residential developments that aren’t just use Class C3:

Table 2.1 Use Scale / Impact Location Indicative $106 requirement Relevant development plan policy 1. Residential C3 use class (excluding build to rent) 10 or more residential units or more than 1000sqm floorspace Borough wide Affordable housing 50% affordable housing on site" OR where not feasible a payment in lieu calculated on a case by case basis taking into account the development viability Where the provision of off-site affordable housing is accepted this should be provided in the borough and where possible in the vicinity of the site. LP13 Affordable Housing 2. Residential C3 use class (excluding build to rent) 1-9 units Whole borough except 'City Fringe (on Map 1 page 13) Affordable housing 50% affordable housing onsite where capable of providing onsite affordable housing OR A payment of £50,000 per unit (Number of units X £50,000) LP13 Affordable Housing 3. Residential C3 use class (excluding build to rent) 1-9 units City Fringe area (on Map 1 page 13) Affordable housing 50% affordable housing onsite where capable of providing onsite affordable housing OR A payment of £60,000 per unit (Number of units X £60,000) LP13 Affordable Housing 4. Student Housing (C2) All Borough wide Affordable housing A minimum of 50% of student rooms will be required to be affordable for students in the context of student maintenance loans and rents LP20 Student Housing 5. Housing for Older and Vulnerable People (C2) All Borough wide Affordable housing Proposals for specialist housing for older people will be required to provide 50% affordable housing LP18 Housing Older and Vulnerable People 6. Large Scale Purpose Built Housing 50 or more residential units Borough wide Affordable housing 50% of all units to be provided at rental levels which do not exceed one third of ward-level incomes (excluding utility bills and Council Tax) LP21 Large Scale Purpose Built Housing 7. Build to rent schemes (C3) All Borough wide Affordable housing 50% of all units to be provided at rental levels which do not exceed one third of ward-level incomes (excluding utility bills and Council Tax) LP15 Build to Rent

Previous Work in Hackney

Proposed development = Convert and extend existing 6 residential units into 9 residential units. Increase the existing space to a GIA of 626.9m2.

Policy Implications/Requirements = As a development of 1-9 units, this development is expected to provide onsite provision or payments in lieu up to the equivalent of 50%.

Expectation on Affordable Housing = As a proposed development totaling 9 units, Hackney Borough Council would expect 4.5 units as affordable housing or a payment in-lieu of £50,000 per unit (£225,000).

Result = The residual site value was determined to be less than the benchmark land value, therefore resulting in a negative figure and only allowing a profit of 11.08% which is lower than the targeted 18%. The contribution towards affordable housing was dismissed as it was not deemed viable.

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Hackney Affordable Housing Policy

Previous Work in Hackney

Golden Rules, Green Belt, Affordable Housing and Viability New NPPF & PPG 2024 – what has changed for viability and affordable housing?

Aggregation of Sites for Affordable Housing Contributions

In Other Relevant Building Credit (for Community Infrastructure Levy)