Major project approved with no affordable homes

The Water Lane development will be built on a brownfield site between the railway line and Exeter canal

Plans to build 1,300 homes in a flagship scheme on the waterfront in Exeter have been given the go-ahead without any requirement for affordable housing.

Up to 980 flats and 320 student accommodation units, as well as shops and restaurants, will be built in the Water Lane development.

At Exeter City Council's planning committee on Monday, some councillors said it was unacceptable to approve the plans without any agreement to provide affordable or social housing.

The developer said it was spending more than £10m on getting the industrial site ready for development and was keen to deliver affordable housing as part of the scheme at a later date.

An artist's impression of how the Water lane development will look

The development could be up to nine storeys high on the former industrial site alongside Exeter's canal.

The councillor for the ward, Diana Moore, Green Party leader, said: "It's very clear in the decision that affordable housing will not be secured through the planning system - it may be delivered by other mechanisms.

"That means the developer has no responsibility to deliver any affordable or social housing, and that responsibility is offloaded on to the council or housing associations, or other organisations that are going to have to work up those schemes and pay for it in other ways.

"That really concerns me and we will be keeping a very close eye on what is actually agreed and making sure affordable housing is delivered."

Developers will be able to build up to 1,300 homes on the Water Lane site

During the four-hour meeting Liberal Democrat group leader Michael Mitchell said affordable housing should be included as a condition.

Conservative leader Anne Jobson said there should be a "clear commitment" to reviewing the possibility of affordable or social housing at every stage.

At the opening of the meeting Paul Knott, planning committee chairman and Labour member for Exwick, said it was the "largest and most complex" planning application he had dealt with in his 18 years as a councillor.

Proposing the motion to approve the plans, he said: "I'm satisfied that if it's viable affordable housing will be delivered."

'Much-needed housing'

Andy Wilkins, from the Water Lane Development Management Company, told the meeting this was "a watershed moment for the city".

"This is an exciting moment that will see the delivery of much-needed housing in an exemplar scheme," he said.

When questioned by councillors about the reasons for the absence of affordable housing, he said: "This site is about as brownfield as it gets and the cost of delivery is significant."

He said the viability of affordable housing changed according to market conditions.

"If it's viable for affordable housing to be delivered, it will be delivered," he said.