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The council received almost £200,000 from developers in the last financial year due to broken promises to build affordable housing in Bath.

A Freedom of Information request revealed that Bath and North East Somerset Council received £195,131 from developers in 2016/17 in lieu of affordable homes not being built on housing development sites.

The council could also receive a potential £2.4 million, but the receipts and timing of receipts is dependent on the developments taking place and reaching the relevant 'triggers'.

The news comes after the council said it would not be possible to deliver any affordable homes on its flagship Bath Quays North project as it would be “an additional cost burden”.

Residents branded the decision “disgraceful”, but council leader Tim Warren then said the council will seek to include affordable housing if it is successful in securing additional grant funding.

The Chronicle asked the council whether the money received from developers who failed to deliver affordable homes could be used to close the funding gap for affordable housing on Bath Quays.

(Image: Artur Lesniak)

A spokesperson said the money is “ring-fenced” so that it has to be spent on the delivery of affordable housing within Bath and North East Somerset.

“Where the size or scale of a development triggers a requirement for affordable housing but it is not possible to achieve appropriate affordable housing on site, then a commuted sum is paid by a developer to the council and is ring-fenced so that it has to be spent on the delivery of affordable housing within the district,” the council spokesperson said.

“Once paid to the council, it is treated in the same way as the council’s Affordable Housing Capital Budget.

“This funding may be used to help secure government subsidy on housing association-led development, it may be used to fund bespoke housing solutions for high priority housing cases, to provide specialist and supported housing delivery, or to help meet a viability gap to ensure on-site housing delivery on another development in Bath and North East Somerset.

“The application at Bath Quays North will be robustly scrutinised as part of the planning determination process and mechanisms to review viability at future points in time will be secured, along with a requirement for the developer to actively work with the council to find ways of delivering affordable housing units should public subsidy be available.”

Councillor Eleanor Jackson (Labour, Westfield), spokesperson for Housing on B&NES Labour Group, said developers not delivering on their promises happens far too often.

She said: “It happens repeatedly that the Development Management Committee gives permission for a development despite their reservations because they are told that the development will provide affordable housing at the appropriate percentage of the total build.

“The advantages of having affordable housing which is so desperately needed, outweigh the disadvantages in terms of environmental damage for example.

“Subsequently, we discover that the developer has reneged on the commitment, usually on the grounds of so-called economic feasibility.

“My personal view is that, if a developer puts forward this argument, we should say ‘alright you can withdraw and find a developer that can deliver’.

“This may mean a delay in the development of a site but there are examples of where a second developer is able to deliver the appropriate quota of affordable housing.

“In the case of Bath Quays, the situation where no affordable housing is proposed is outrageous.

“If a developer provides money in lieu of affordable housing, for example on very small developments, the sums offered must be rigorously scrutinised to make sure that they accurately reflect property values at the time a development is complete in order that we receive enough money. I think this money should be used to build council housing”.

Lib Dem Group leader, Councillor Dine Romero (Southdown ward), told the Chronicle she also wants to see affordable homes included in Bath Quays North.

She said: “Liberal Democrats want to see balanced communities across Bath and would insist on a variety of housing types and tenures being made available in Bath Quays North.

“The council intends this area to include ‘homes for local people’, but that is useless if the homes are priced out of reach of people on typical local incomes.

“A Liberal Democrat Council administration would seek to review this poorly thought through Conservative scheme and ensure that the scheme is amended to include a variety of tenures.”

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