Bid to drop affordable homes from estate rejected

The development is proposed for land on Allard Way in Coventry

A developer must build affordable homes as part of a major scheme in Coventry, the council has ruled.

Taylor Wimpey applied in June to scrap a requirement for below market housing at the site on land at Allard Way, citing "viability issues".

But council officers raised issues with their plans and refused the bid permission, highlighting the local demand for social housing.

It means 32 of the 125 homes at the site must still be rented or sold at below market rates.

Plans lodged by CBRE on behalf of the housebuilder, said the change was being sought as the scheme’s viability had been hit by rising construction costs and previously unknown site costs.

It said the developer's profit would be 2% compared to the "reasonable assumption" of 15 to 20% under national policy.

The report also claimed there were "no credible offers" from providers to manage the affordable housing – meaning these homes would stay empty.

It was also highlighted that Taylor Wimpey will pay more than £1m towards local services under Section 106 contributions.

However, the council said it did not agree with the methodology of the financial viability assessment, and although it recognised the market had worsened since the site was bought in 2022, the scheme would deliver "more than sufficient profit".

Officers also pointed out that a provider had offered, though at a low rate, to manage the 13 social rented homes and said the time providers were given to respond seems "limited".

There were also 9,400 people on the social housing register, they highlighted.

Council policies also required that 25% of the units in schemes for over 25 homes must be affordable unless there were "exceptional circumstances".

The decision to refuse the change comes 10 months after reserved matters for the development were approved by the authority.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.