The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead adopted their latest Local Plan in February 2022. It states that it “promotes a sustainable pattern of development for the Borough”.
Policy HO3 of the Local Plan sets out the expectations regarding affordable housing in the Borough, this can be seen below:
As seen above, there are different requirements based on the type of site and the number of dwellings proposed. This policy will apply to all sites where a residential scheme is proposed.
For developments of between 10-500 dwellings or over 1,000m2 of residential floorspace and on a greenfield site, 40% affordable housing will be sought.
By comparison on developments of 10+ dwellings and on any other site, or over 500 dwellings, 30% affordable housing will be sought.
In designated rural areas, all developments of 5-9 dwellings will also be required to provide 40% affordable housing.
Affordable housing provisions can be made on-site or on a different site if there is an identified housing need elsewhere. A financial contribution equivalent to the relevant affordable housing percentage can also be provided as an alternative, if on-site provisions are not appropriate.
Given current high build costs and stalling sales values, we advise that a site-specific viability assessment is completed on all residential developments of more than 1,000m2 or 5 dwellings in the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead.
