South Cambridgeshire Hall Cambourne Business Park Cambourne Cambridge, CB23 6EA	03450 450 500	www.scambs.gov.uk

Mr Andrew Fillmore Principal Planning Officer South Cambridgeshire District Council Cambourne CB23 6EA

Affordable Homes

Our ref:	Contact: Cllr Mark Howell

Your ref:

25TH November 2014

Dear Andrew

Planning Application S/1344/14/FL Site OSP 148 Great Eversden

As Housing Portfolio Holder I felt it was important to write to provide my support for this planning application, which is seeking to secure 10 units of affordable housing on a rural exception site, which is in the ownership of this authority.

I understand that there is a need for a small development to help meet the local housing needs of this village. It is important that as a strategic enabling authority where housing demand is high that we try and use any land assets that we hold to help in meeting this increasing need.

Since 2007 this authority has provided over 466 new homes on rural exception sites. Policy HG/5 has delivered more affordable housing for this district than policy HG/3 (with the exception of the strategic growth sites) and it is important that we provide much needed affordable housing to our parishes. We also have a commitment through the City Deal to provide an additional 1,000 homes on exception sites over the next 10 years.

I am aware of the Low Close Little Eversden scheme which was completed approximately 4 years ago and this has been well received by the parish and local community. I am advised that the development was able to accommodate residents who had a local connections to either Great or Little Eversden and I would like to ensure that the same allocation criteria is applied to this scheme too. Whilst our policy asks us to consider just the local need to the particular parish, given the size of some of our villages we are at serious risk of not being able to provide any more affordable homes in smaller parishes where the needs of others cannot be accommodated.

The changes to the way affordable housing is funded and managed now and in the future presents a real threat to the success of projects such as this, we should ensure that as an authority we embrace projects such as these where we have willing partners who would fund such projects.

Yours sincerely

Cllr Mark Howell – Housing Portfolio Holder