Equity housing respond to questions

Our thanks to Lynn May for putting the following questions to Equity Housing, who replied swiftly and apologised for not coming to Saturday's meeting.

• What  is your definition of “affordable” housing? (I appreciate that the selling  price may be subject to the housing market at the time of sale but I assume  you can give a minimum figure.)
• The properties  will be developed for Shared Ownership. Shared Ownership is primarily aimed at  first time buyers but can include current home owners in exceptional  circumstances such as relationship breakdown etc. Under the terms of Shared  Ownership, we can only sell an initial share in the property of between  25-75%. You are correct that on most schemes, the purchaser can staircase out  to 100% should they have a change in circumstances and be able to afford to,  however given this is a designated rural exception site, the maximum share  that a purchaser can buy through staircasing is 80%. At present, we estimate  that the full open market values will be in the range of £150-175,000. Clearly  this is just an assumption used for financial appraisal purposes and this will  be set much closer to the point of release. Our funders insist that we go to  market with an independent valuation no more than 3 months  old.

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Our comments on the new housing development application

You can download the full Word Version here

CONSULTATION RESPONSE BY ASHTON HAYES PARISH COUNCIL

PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT – ERECTION OF 15 DWELLINGS ON LAND ADJACENT TO METHODIST CHURCH, ASHTON LANE, ASHTON HAYES, CHESTER, CHESHIRE

PLANNING APPLICATION REFERENCE – 11/05914/FUL

Overview

The Parish Council has considered in detail the application made in respect of the above development and held a public meeting on 4^th February 2012 to listen to the views of the Parish.

Over 150 people attended the meeting, representing around one third of households in the Parish. The community recognise that this is the most significant planning application in Ashton Hayes for over 30 years

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Factors consider in planning applications

Following on from the public meeting on Saturday 4th February, Hugo Deynem has sent us the guidance below around material planning considerations. While it is not in any sense an official list or an exhaustive one, it was nevertheless drawn up by an experienced member of HM Inspectorate and with regard to recent planning decisions and high court challenges.  The significance of these factors can be influenced by local policies, and every application must be seen to be decided on its own merits.

Material Factors
non-Material Factors
design and visual impact
the applicant
privacy/daylight/sunlight
land ownership
noise, smell, pollution
private rights (eg access)
access/traffic
restrictive covenants
health/ health & safety
property value
ecology, landscape
competition
crime (and fear thereof)
loss of view
economic impact
"moral" issues
planning history/ related decisions
number of representations
fallback position eg PD
change from previous scheme
cumulative impact
personal factors (rarely)
sustainable materials
internal standards