The Shoreham Society has called on Adur council to insist that new residential developments must have a minimum of 30 per cent affordable housing – and up to 40 per cent for large developments.
The society says council planners should adopt a robust policy on housing, not letting developers cut back on the 30/40 per cent national guidelines for affordable properties or social housing.
Society members are concerned about a growing trend by developers to offer the full recommended quota of affordable housing at first, but later say it is not viable and seek to either reduce the affordable quota or increase the overall density by packing more units into the site.
A society spokesman said: “Councillors and planning officers in many areas are proving weak in response to developers’ demands, allowing genuine local housing needs to be compromised in pursuit of what they mistakenly believe to be economic regeneration.”
The society is urging councillors and planning officers to firmly resist any reductions in proposed affordable or social housing, to demand that developers open their books to independent inspection if they claim that the guidelines are not viable, and to decline planning consent for schemes that put profits before meeting real local housing needs.
