The Editor Western Telegraph
Unattainable housing?
Debbie James’ in her Feb 2nd article on affordable
housing in rural areas, reports that landowners are disappointed about the recent
statement by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister that no element of cross
subsidy would be allowed on “exception sites” to facilitate the building of
such homes.
Unreported was ODPM’s preface to this that “the
changes to guidance are designed to remove barriers to delivering affordable
homes in rural areas and free up unused employment land where it could be
better used for housing”. Confused? Consider further.
Exception
sites for rural housing have been part of the system in the U.K for many years.
But in rural Wales they are practically unknown despite the pressing need for
more affordable housing. If the rules are left unchanged as ODPM apparently prefers,
exception sites remain totally irrelevant to their announced objective?
Welsh
planning and housing policy is now devolved to the Assembly and there is nothing
to stop our minister taking a view different from ODPM when the current Welsh review
of affordable housing policy (the revision of Technical Advice Note 2) is
completed in April. Legislators in Wales might figure that the situation in
rural Wales is distinctive and so serious that they need to make something actually
happen.
The
impression given by the article is that exception sites involve the use of
farmland. In fact the effect of most planning policies is to rule out any housing
development in rural areas which does not meet strict settlement infill criteria.
This means that other land too close to a settlement to be farmed, or is otherwise
“brownfield”, is usually the first and only option for an exception site.
But
as history shows, owners and planning officers cannot make these sites work
under current rules. If WAG endorses ODPM’s stated intention to get more affordable
homes built in rural areas, and to “free up unused employment land where it
could be better used for housing”, it will have to change this ruling or else find
ways other than exception sites to make it happen. If they do not it will be those
vainly seeking homes in rural areas who will be most disappointed.
David
Lort-Phillips
Knowles
Farm
Lawrenny