New Builds - Affordable Social Housing

love2learn

I've been reading online that developers building new build houses have to allocate a portion of these houses as "affordable social housing" to get planning permission.

Does anyone know how many houses in a development trigger this? Is there a set number before the developer has to build some affordable social houses?

Looking at a new build just now, but worried about the house being devalued after purchase should undesirables move in.

Judge me as a snob all you like, I'm working class and brought up in a council estate... I've had enough antisocial neighbors and often violent neighbors to last a life time, and they absolutely do devalue properties I am zero doubt of that.

davidmcn

If you want a general answer then the planning authority will probably have a policy about it, and if you want to know what's been required for a particular development then it will form part of the planning consent - so the answer is probably on the council's website.

phill99

Yes you are a snob. 'Undesireables'. Good God.

Dird

It's a non-issue really. How often do you ask vendors how many houses on the street are owned/rented? The vendor wouldn't even know!
More likely a future buyer would just ask about the direct neighbours & normally "old couple" / "couple with 2 kids" answers it for them

[Deleted User]

There are no guarantees of anything when buying a house., you could have lived in a good council estate or bad.., obviously you lived in bad areas.

You could buy a new build/non new build.., have next door purchased or owned by a private LL and get nightmare neighbours. They may be young/old/working/on benefits. Nightmare neighbours exist in all areas.

There are enough posts on here to indicate this.

You could buy a new build on an estate and be no where near social housing.., or you could be next door.

Personally I'd use different criteria. Social housing is no guarantee of a bad neighbourhood. Or save until you have the money to buy in a gated community and discover there is a whole different element to undesirable neighbourhoods.

MadelinesMum

Hi I live on a new build estate and in my phase of about 300 houses, there are approx 20 houses and two blocks of flats that are managed by a housing association.

My house is currently for sale and it is directly opposite a terraced block of affordable housing. About half of my viewers have asked whether they are social housing.

libf

New builds always de-value when you first move in, because they're not new anymore. Same with new cars.

As for social housing... I'm in a shared ownership flat in a block where all the flats are shared ownership apart from 3 on each of 3 levels. Full price was £134k when I bought in 4.5 years ago, valuation for sale earlier this year was £185k. My non-shared ownership neighbour sold for £175k this time last year.

There's a need for a social housing, it's just a shame that the government relies on private companies to build it. If you don't like that, don't buy there.

giddypenguin

We live opposite a social housing block on a new build estate - they are home to one of our best friends on the street - you simply cannot judge people based on their living arrangements.

The developers should point out to you where the blocks of housing wil be on the site plan so ask them. It's usually labelled as such.

Jon_B_2

Once you find a property that you like and you can see where the section 106 housing is, you can specifically ask the sales office what plots are social rented and what plots are shared ownership.

I pulled out of a house when I realised I was living opposite 8 social rented plots. I've lived opposite social rented when I was renting and it wasn't that pleasant.

I wouldn't have a problem with shared ownership. Yes, all neighbours can be potential nightmares, but when piling a lot of money into a house it's all about reducing risk. There seems to be a taboo about this, but like the OP I have lived adjacent to council estates as a kid and I know what it is like...

For the record, where we are buying the section 106 housing is about 20% which is considered low. In a lot of developments it is around 33%.

theartfullodger

love2learn wrote: »

...Judge me as a snob all you like, I'm working class and brought up in a council estate........

In my experience "Old Money" aristos are often less "snobbish" than the new guys wanting to be better than the next man...

http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/comment/articles/2011-03/28/gq-comment-tony-parsons-social-class-defence-of-snobbery-prejudice

Nobody is a bigger snob than a working-class man with a grievance.

pinkshoes

In this area it is a third of houses in developments over about 15 houses.

You are being sensible rather than a "snob".

A friend of mine bought a house in a development which he rented to me whilst he went travelling for a year. The trees had all their branches ripped off, drunken people screaming late at night, bikes stolen, someone trying to kick in someone's door etc... In a year i lost count of all the times the police were called.

Guess which houses caused all the trouble...? Oh, that would be a couple of the social rented ones. i am certainly not saying all the social houses were trouble,as a lot of them were lovely, but getting the council to evict the trouble makers was a nightmare.

My parents live in a newbuild development and the social housing is all in one area and away from theirs. Much more peaceful.

I guess it just comes down to where it is located.

Obviously you can get ghastly private tenants too, but personally i have found that private landlords didn't want trouble, so an eviction happened much quicker!