East Sussex housing development could be 100 per cent affordable

In an application submitted to Lewes District Council, permission is being sought to change the terms of a legal agreement connected to the construction of 68 homes on land opposite Bishop’s Close.

The changes are being sought to reflect proposals from a social housing provider known as Stonewater, which intends to purchase the site and build out the scheme as a 100 per cent affordable development.

In a covering letter sent as part of the application, a spokesman for the developer said: “Stonewater intends to purchase the above development and to deliver the scheme as 100 per cent affordable housing utilising grant funding. However, to ensure that the agreement is fit for purpose and that grant funding may be used, Stonewater proposes a number of amendments to the agreement.

“We understand that this letter will be placed on the public register and would like to reiterate our client’s commitment to ensuring that they will only apply for social housing relief in respect of any Community Infrastructure Levy liability regarding the 40 per cent (27) affordable dwellings.

“This means that the local community will benefit from both the CIL receipts and having a 100 per cent affordable scheme, as welcomed by the Parish Council during the Inquiry.”

According to Stonewater, the changes it is seeking to the legal agreement are intended to ensure it will be able to meet the terms of the grant funding it intends to use to build out the scheme.

Among other things, the changes would also mean the development would no longer provide “first homes” — i.e. properties sold at a discounted price to first time buyers. The properties would be affordable rental properties instead.

The changes would also mean the site’s owner could potentially retain ownership of community land (including a play area and orchard). This land was previously set to only be offered to either Ringmer Parish Council or a third-party management body. While these options would remain, Stonewater says it has ‘a proven track record’ of managing such open spaces on other sites.

The original scheme was approved at appeal in November, after a planning inspector judged it met the requirements of the presumption in favour of sustainable development set out in the National Planning Policy Framework

The scheme had initially been refused on a variety of grounds, including overdevelopment and ‘poor design’. The inspector judged both of these elements to be acceptable.

Committee members had also raised concerns about the impact of additional traffic on Earwig Corner (a busy junction on the A26 in Lewes), but this was dropped as a reason for refusal during the appeal process.

In a separate decision, the inspector also ordered the council to pay the appeal costs incurred by Thakeham Homes, the scheme’s original applicants.