Page 87 - All files for Planning Inspectorate update

Between summer of 2018 and spring of 2019, negotiations took place between AHL and
MSDC to try to identify a scheme based on 54 units (including 30% affordable housing)

that planning officers would recommend to the Planning Committee;
On 3rd March 2019, the MSDC Planning Portal for DM/19/1025 loaded a
Report-27 pages prepared by Mel Dwyer of Affordable Housing Consultants Limited
(AHCL). It attached two assessment spreadsheets based on the HCA Development
Appraisal Tool:
1. for 54 dwellings including 30% of affordable units.
The assessment showed a deficit 1,853,515 on completion
and a present value deficit of 1,556,281;

2. for 54 dwellings with no provision for affordable housing, showing a deficit on
completion of 295,340 and a present value deficit of 247,978.

The report also included a letter, dated 21st December 2018, by Martin Campbell,
Commercial Property Consultant, estimating the site sales price at 2,935,000.

This was based on an rental value of 235,000 pa for an area of 27,000
square feet at 8.70 per square foot and a yield of 7.5%.
AHL proposed that MSDC should grant permission to build 54 dwellings with no
affordable housing. The supposed deficit of 1,835,515 appears to be convincing
evidence on non-viability.
However, there are a number of important points to note:
Amazingly the scheme with no affordable housing did not appear viable:

meaning that deliverability would be far from assured.
. However, this
incongruity was explained as

The question is why would any developer take on a scheme that was
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loss making ?
The developable area of the WH:EDF site was recorded as 0.64 hectares; resulting
in a ridiculously excessive, out-of-character density (DdHa) for a Category 3 village
of 84 dwellings per hectare. The average building density of Ashurst Wood is 3.19
DdHa which is by far the highest in the County for a Category 3 village.

What more is that the AWNP and most of MSDC supporting documentation
had incorrectly claimed a developable area of 0.84 hectare: thereby suppressing
the true DdHa calculations.
at
On 11th March 2019, MSDC rejected the application and submitted what best could be
described as an anodyne delegated report that excluded many of the objections raised by
residents. Ms Blomfield, Mr King manager, issued an even weaker statutory rejection
letter on the same day. AHL was permitted to appeal at any time before mid-September
2019 which it indicated it would do. It did not do so.

However, AHL had already prepared a completely new applicat ion for 54 dwellings (the
th
DM/19/1025 application dated 13 March 2019) with no provision for affordable housing.

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