Islington adopted their Core Strategy back in February 2011, it is said to ‘set out where and how change will happen in Islington, indicate what supporting infrastructure will be needed and how any environmental impact can be reduced’.
Across the borough there is an overall target of 50% of new housing developments to be affordable. Islington relies upon their local plan and their Affordable Housing Small Sites Contribution SPD (October 2012).
Policy CS12 Meeting the Housing Challenge (Part G) sets out the expectation for Affordable Housing within the borough, see below:
Any development creating a net gain of dwellings is expected to provide 50% as affordable housing. For sites of 10+ units, this would be 50% on-site provision; however, for those of >10 units, a financial contribution will be required.
For sites of less than 10 units, the financial contribution is calculated slightly differently. Depending on the location of the development, a different amount of money is expected per unit: sites in the north and middle part of the borough are expected to provide £50,000 per dwelling, compared to sites south of Pentonville Road/City Road that are required to give £60,000 per dwelling.
S106 Management have completed many successful viability challenges in Islington, both during applications and appeals. The council’s policy is based on data over a decade out of date.
Therefore we advise that a site-specific viability assessment is completed on all developments of 1 or more dwellings in Islington.
Previous Work in Islington
Proposed development = Convert and partially extend existing family dwelling, creating space for 2 self-contained apartments. The development provided 180.8m2 of residential accommodation.
Policy implications/requirements = 50% of all additional units to be affordable housing. Sites of >10 dwellings to provide a financial contribution.
Expectation on Affordable Housing = £50,000 per unit as a financial contribution – in this case it would equate to £100,000.
Result = Planning permission was approved subject to conditions and a legal agreement. The site could not viably provide any contribution towards affordable housing.
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