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The Council has made affordable housing one of its highest priorities, with the objective of delivering 100 new affordable homes each year between 1st April 2009 and 31st March 2014.
See our Development Pipeline page for further information on this target and our progress to date.
Our Housing Strategy and Local Plan Alteration No. 2 pages provide comprehensive information on the Council's objectives and policies regarding affordable housing provision within the district. We also have our first Local Investment Plan approved by the Homes and Communities Agency. Our aim is to work in partnership with other agencies, including Parish Councils, Registered Social Landlords, Developers, Private Landlords and local people, to identify where housing is needed and then work to ensure it is delivered.
Over the last 10 years or so, our partnership working has achieved 38 village housing schemes for local people, together with a considerable number of new affordable homes in Sudbury, Great Cornard and Hadleigh, totalling over 1530 in all.
We are presently working in partnership with Parish Councils and Housing Associations to progress a further 23 potential village housing schemes, and with Private Developers to achieve a range of town developments on new open market sites. It is anticipated that this work will help deliver the 500 new affordable rented and shared ownership homes for set in our target for 2009 to 2014.
The Definition given to affordable housing in the current Local Plan is “housing that is provided, with subsidy for people who are unable to resolve their housing needs in the local private sector market because of the relationship between housing costs and income”.
This will be housing for rent or shared ownership, managed by a registered social landlord or other provider compliant with the requirements of Planning Policy Statement 3.
The Council is committed to meeting both the immediate and future housing needs of the district. In order to do this it is essential that wherever possible all new affordable housing must be provided in perpetuity. Therefore, the tenure of new affordable housing should be;
- Social Rente
- Affordable Rent
- Shared Ownership/Rent to Homebuy
- Equity share
Shared Ownership and Equity Share sales, will wherever possible, be restricted to 75% ownership, with the developer or housing association always retaining at least 25% of the equity within the property.
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