This document is Coventry City Council’s Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning Document, or the “Affordable Housing SPD” for short.

The purpose of this SPD is to give more detailed guidance on the Affordable Housing Policy H6 contained within the Coventry Local Plan 2017. The Policy requires that for sites which will develop 25 dwellings or more (or larger than 1hectare), at least 25% of the total dwellings should be made available as affordable. This includes dwellings that are available for Social Rent and also on an Intermediate tenure, with the mix made in accordance with national guidance.

By providing more detail around these policy requirements, it will help develop more affordable homes in the city by giving clear and understandable advice to people who want to build houses in Coventry. It explains what developers need to demonstrate to the Council to ensure it complies with Policy H6 of the Local Plan 2017.

This detail includes a more specific breakdown of affordable housing types on a locational basis, but also takes into account central Government requirements such as the building of affordable homes on an “Intermediate” basis, such as First Homes.

The document cannot establish new planning policy relating to building affordable homes in the city, but the Council wants this document to be used by builders of affordable homes to make it easier for them to be built. This will help increase the number of affordable homes built in the city, so that everyone in Coventry can access homes that are more affordable.

It also explains alternative scenarios where the provision of affordable housing is reduced or cannot be delivered at all as well as building and design requirements. It also attempts to simplify the Section 106 Agreement legal process by providing a wording and a template for developers to use. Through this, it is hoped that this SPD will enable more productive negotiations between the Council and applicants wishing to deliver homes in Coventry. This should help make planning applications faster and easier to decide.