TDLP PART 1 CHAPTER 5 - HOUSING, RETAIL, AND COMMUNITY SERVICES

HOUSING

5.1 The Government directs the planning system to identify an adequate supply of land available for housing, taking account of market demand and community need and ensuring that sites are suitable and genuinely available. Local authorities are encouraged to address future housing requirements by offering everyone the opportunity of a decent home, maximising the reuse of previously developed land, assisting regeneration, and reducing the need for travel, and through the provision of a mix of housing types and densities that meet the needs of different types of household.

5.2 The Government also seeks the provision of new housing and residential environments that are well designed and make a significant contribution to improving the quality of life. Guidance stresses the need for full and effective use of land within existing urban areas, to relieve pressure on the countryside while protecting valuable open space from development.

5.3 In view of the commitment to reduce the need to travel, the District Council is tasked with adopting policies that will concentrate development. There is a need also both to ensure that new housing relates sensitively to the existing pattern of settlement, and to deliver adequate affordable housing for local needs.

5.4 The Structure Plan identifies the overall amount and distribution of housing to be provided. Its approach is to guide housing land releases to centres of employment and to provide for development only where associated infrastructure can be secured. The scale of development needs to be appropriate to the level of service provision and the capacity of the settlement to absorb growth.

Housing Development Strategy

5.5 The aim is to secure a closer relationship between housing and the availability of services and employment opportunities, taking account of transport provision. The strategy is as follows:

• To concentrate new housing development in existing urban and rural centres where there is access to jobs and services
• To avoid the incremental expansion of settlements where this would generate additional journeys unnecessarily.

5.6 Housing policies have been developed to achieve the following objectives, which will be used for monitoring and managing housing development:

• To ensure that residential development proceeds in step with opportunities for employment and economic growth
• To provide an adequate and continuous supply of land consistent with the housing requirements
• To ensure that new development takes place in locations where it complements, supports, and reinforces the local economy, services, and facilities, and conserves land resources
• To provide a choice of sites, in urban and rural locations, that are responsive to market demand and can be developed without detriment to conservation interest
• To facilitate a range and mix of housing types that meet the needs of the local population and to pursue the provision of affordable housing for sectors of the community that are unable to compete in the housing market
• To secure the protection of valuable open space and the provision of adequate infrastructure provision, in new residential areas.

The scale of proposals is based on an appraisal of the characteristics of identified towns and villages, to gauge their suitability for additional growth during the plan period.

Housing Strategy

5.6A The District Housing Strategy provides an assessment of the full range of needs for housing. The approach adopted in the Plan reflects the following objectives, established in the Housing Strategy:

• To seek the provision of a good standard of affordable housing that offers a choice of price, tenure, and location
• To develop projects that meet priorities and needs, through partnerships that ensure the efficient use of resources
• To define need clearly, on the basis of accurate and objective information
• To maximise available resources for appropriate services, targeting those in greatest need
• To encourage private sector regeneration, again targeting those in greatest need
• To provide an economic, efficient, and effective service that provides quality, choice, and accountability.

The District Council, as the local housing authority, is developing an enabling rôle in the provision of affordable and social housing to meet local needs. This approach is detailed within the District Housing Strategy.

Housing Land

5.7 The Plan must determine where development will be encouraged, and which detailed considerations will be applied in the assessment of housing proposals. The First Review set out the housing requirement for Torridge District for the period 1995 - 2011. It required that provision be made for 7100 dwellings, the bulk of which is to be accommodated within Bideford /Northam. The land supply position is summarised in Figure 6.

Figure 6: Housing Land Supply 1995 - 2011

Notes:

1. Figures relate to the Structure Plan start date of April 1995 for house building monitoring and are updated to the position at 1 April 2001. All amounts are rounded to the nearest integer. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
2. Comprising the 'Outstanding Balance of Consents on Previously Allocated Sites' [see Schedule 2, Note 4]. The amount excludes both house completions and houses under construction.
3. New Land Allocations consist of Proposals (1407 houses) and other New Allocations (1003 houses) [see Schedule 2]. The yield takes account of the constrained capacity derived from the Urban Housing Capacity Study (UHCS) and of recent commitments as indicated by the planning status. A 10% discount rate has been applied to the estimates, to account for likely non-implementation. The discount has not been applied where construction has started on site.
4. Comprising both sites with planning permission and sites with planning consent subject to agreement of a Section 106 obligation. Such sites are outside the scope of the UHCS. The discount has been applied unless construction has started on site. The amount excludes the balance on previous allocations [Note 2].
5. Comprising likely contributions both from previously developed significant sites (244 houses) and from previously developed small sites (398 houses) as derived from the UHCS. The discount has been applied. The assumption represents a rate of contribution to the land supply of approximately 17%.
   

5.8 Housing completions and starts 1995 - 2001 amount to 2823 houses. It is estimated that outstanding commitments on previous allocations, other outstanding permissions, and sites pending planning agreement will provide a further 1184 houses.

5.8A Based on a DOE Research Paper on Housing Land Availability by Roger Tym & Partners, a non-implementation rate of 10% has been applied to commitments unless the construction has commenced on site. This provides a realistic overview of housing land supply, though it takes into consideration only those general constraints that can inhibit market development.

5.8B New housing sites that are not identified on the Proposals Map, including large sites that become unexpectedly available, are referred to as windfalls. Such sites make an important contribution to housing provision and an assessment of the likely windfall rate is needed before determining the level of new releases needed to maintain the supply. Completions from windfalls over the period 1995 - 2001 provided 850 houses, comprising approximately 38% of the total. All commitments on unallocated sites at April 2001 including those subject to uncompleted Section 106 Agreements amounted to 887 units, comprising approximately 21% of the total after the discount is applied.

5.8C The District Urban Housing Capacity Study (UHCS) assessed the likely contribution 2001 - 2011 from unallocated previously developed sites within Area Centres to be 642 houses. In accord with Government guidance, no additional allowance is made for development on unallocated greenfield sites. Accordingly, it is assumed that the windfall rate will contribute approximately 17% of the housing provision 2001 - 2011, providing approximately 64 units annually.

5.9 The RPG forecasts a reduced annual rate of housing growth to that provided for in the First Review. The RPG is based on the most up to date and reliable demographic data, the resultant approach from which is reflected in the Structure Plan. The District Council will use the 'plan, monitor, manage' approach to ensure that addressing the Structure Plan requirement does not prejudice transition to lower rates of housing growth.

5.9A Figure 6 demonstrates how the 1995 - 2011 shortfall could be made up by new allocations to give a proposed total provision of approximately 7,050 houses, taking account of the likely contribution from commitments and from potential windfall sites, and of the likely non-implementation rate where applicable. Sites not previously identified will need to be brought forward for development.

5.9B Government guidance establishes a sequential test for bringing forward new housing land. Use of spare land capacity in urban areas is preferable to the release of green fields. Priority must be given to the use of previously developed land, exploiting opportunities for building conversion and for the reuse of vacant land. The sequential test has been applied to all housing allocations.

5.10 The Plan introduces necessary restraint over rural development. Where outstanding commitments for rural development become time expired, any application for renewal will need to be determined in the light of the need for restraint.

5.11 An aggregation of commitments, new land allocations, and likely windfall contributions forms the new housing provision. The amount and distribution across the District need to reflect the development strategy and conform generally to the Structure Plan, having regard to the RPG.

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