Council looks to remove affordable homes from Battle development

On Monday (November 6), Rother District Council’s cabinet considered a report updating members on the latest position of the much-troubled Blackfriars housing development — a project which is expected to see 200 new homes built east of Battle.

The scheme, which is being brought forward by the council-owned Rother DC Housing Company, had initially been expected to include 130 new affordable homes. The housing company says this is no longer possible, however, due to delays and rising costs.

While the detailed financial reports are confidential, publicly available papers say the scheme would not currently break-even unless all 200 homes are sold on the open market.

Cabinet member for housing Cllr Ruairi McCourt (Lab) said: “It is difficult and disappointing that the only viable option at this time is to deliver this scheme as 100 per cent open market sales.

“Having said that, it has been a challenge and we remain committed to the principle of affordable housing. I understand that later on, as this project is phased, there may be an opportunity to look again at the whole issue of affordable housing, either through acquisition of properties or some other vehicle of delivery.

“That said, the positives are it does deliver 200 high quality homes to a historically stalled site, which has been fraught with difficulty for not one of two years, but 60 years. I do think it would have remained in that position if it hadn’t been for the hard work of council officers and the Rother Housing Company as well.”

Officers described the removal of affordable housing as the ‘best worst-case scenario’ and warned the project would remain at financial risk even as a 100 per cent market housing scheme.

The position reached is partly because the project is being delivered through a company, which means the scheme must at the very least break even. Not doing so could risk the loss of business loans needed for the scheme to proceed, a report to cabinet members said.

The report also noted how other options had been considered and deemed to be unviable. These options included other mixes of affordable and market housing as well as the sale of the site.

It goes on to explain how the scheme’s financial issues are the result of several factors, including the delays to construction of a new spine road through the development connecting Harrier Lane and The Spinney.

During the same meeting, cabinet members agreed to endorse an increase in this part of the project’s budget from £19.9m to £21.0m. A final decision will need to be made in a full council vote, however.

Other financial impacts come from the high rates of inflation and other external economic factors, councillors heard.

Cllr McCourt said: “It must be noted that this business plan for Blackfriars was conceived in very different economic times, with low interest rates and relatively low inflation. Those factors I have just mentioned have driven a coach and horses through the business plan.”

During discussion, opposition Conservative councillors stressed a view that the council should look at selling the site to a registered social housing provider.

On this point, Cllr Elenor Kibry-Green (Con, Burwash and the Weald) said: “My understanding is registered providers have access to the funding from the affordable homes programme, if the whole site is delivered affordably, which we obviously don’t have access to.

“I know a number of sites in the rural areas have actually been delivered at 100 per cent affordable because the developer has been a registered housing provider and apparently they have been able to deliver sites other people can’t.

“I’m wondering why that hasn’t been considered.”

Officers said such a sale had been considered but was deemed unviable ‘quite early on’ in the process. They said this was partly due to the scale of the scheme and partly because of the need to recover the costs already committed.

In any case, the removal of the affordable homes will need to be approved by Rother District Council’s planning committee before moving ahead.

Notably, the Rother Housing Company is already seeking permission for a redesigned scheme with only 70 affordable homes. This application is expected to proceed separately, going before planners in December or January.