The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames’ Affordable Housing Policy, LP36, sets out the thresholds and expected contributions. This policy applies to all forms of developments – whether it a new build scheme or a revision, such as changing 2 units to 1, all applications are expected to contribute towards affordable housing.
Like many councils in London, Richmond’s Affordable Housing Policy is very strict and can make a development unviable.
Larger developments, of 10 units or more, are expected to provide a 50% contribution towards affordable housing, which is usually required on site.
Smaller developments are required to pay a financial contribution. For many applicants submitting a small scheme, contributing thousands of pounds is unforeseeable and will push applicants to reconsider or withdraw their application.
However, affordable housing is required subject to viability. That means that if a development is agreed to be unviable, it will not need to provide a contribution. Therefore, if you believe that Policy LP36 is making your development unviable, you might consider submitting a Viability Assessment with your application.
A Viability Assessment will fully evaluate the values and costs associated with your scheme to understand whether any developer contributions, including affordable housing, should be provided. If you would like assistance with an assessment, please feel free to get in touch, and we would be more than happy to help!