"Oh what a tangled web we weave, when once we practise to deceive.
Is this a Godawfulming ruse by developers selling ‘affordable homes’ in Waverley?
Going up fast. New homes in Catteshall Lane Godalming are rising like the phoenix …
These latest new homes are being built on land next to the Ambulance Station. The cheapest are one-bed flats at £134.975 – (see the plan – numbers 40-49 1-2 bed apartments) better than some “affordable homes” currently being built? Or, are they?
Because when you read the small print these affordable flats are part buy/part rent. in other words – shared ownership.
These are technically “Affordable homes” – the 20% below market rates is the key, whether shared ownership (ie buy AND pay rent) or pure rental (normally through a Housing Association.) The scandal is twofold – these affordables in new developments are normally much smaller footprint than the adjacent market rate homes – so the developer makes the same profit but uses the affordable homes title as a valuable way of pushing through developments that would otherwise be rejected… like Milford Golf Course, Aarons Hill.. well every new development. No council says no to ‘much needed affordable homes” no matter how densely packed in. The second scandal is that Affordables are encouraged instead of Social Housing. No one builds social housing anymore. In the last 5 years the incentivised affordables have skyrocketed whilst the building of social has plummeted.
Guidance as to what is an affordable home is provided in the following link https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-planning-policy-framework/annex-2-glossary
These are technically “Affordable homes” – the 20% below market rates is the key, whether shared ownership (ie buy AND pay rent) or pure rental (normally through a Housing Association.) The scandal is twofold – these affordables in new developments are normally much smaller footprint than the adjacent market rate homes – so the developer makes the same profit but uses the affordable homes title as a valuable way of pushing through developments that would otherwise be rejected… like Milford Golf Course, Aarons Hill.. well every new development. No council says no to ‘much needed affordable homes” no matter how densely packed in. The second scandal is that Affordables are encouraged instead of Social Housing. No one builds social housing anymore. In the last 5 years the incentivised affordables have skyrocketed whilst the building of social has plummeted.
This is the graph that shows the affordable replacing social housing trend:
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5801/cmselect/cmcomloc/173/IDExport-web-resources/image/Chart-3.png