Consultation: Housing Technical Guidance SPD

Have your say: Housing Technical Guidance for planning

Consultation closed: 10am, Thursday 16 March 2023
Consultation opened: 10am, Tuesday 17 January 2023

Why is the Housing Policy Technical Guidance SPD required?

The adopted Central Bedfordshire Local Plan includes a range of housing-related policies which seek to ensure the type, quality and quantity of housing being delivered through the planning process aligns with the identified demands. The Local Plan policies are high level and additional guidance is needed for some of the policies to help support their implementation.

What does the Housing Policy Technical Guidance SPD include?

The Housing Policy Technical Guidance SPD (PDF) provides further detail on how housing policies within the Local Plan should be implemented, including details of what we are expecting from developers and how applications will be assessed.

The housing policies covered by the SPD include:

  • Policy H1 – Housing Mix
  • Policy H2 – Housing Standards (accessible and adaptable homes)
  • Policy H3 – Housing for Older People
  • Policy H4 – Affordable Housing (level of provision, tenure split, design standards and other key areas of guidance in relation to affordable housing)
  • Policy H5 – Rural Exception Sites
  • Policy H6 – Self and Custom Build Housing

The document also includes guidance on sustainability, first homes and community-led housing. 

Have your say

The draft Housing Policy Technical Guidance SPD was published for public consultation for 6 weeks from 10am on Tuesday 17 January 2023 until 10am on Thursday, 16 March 2023. Copies of the documents were made available to view at our offices in Chicksands, and at our libraries.

Statement of Representations Procedure (PDF)
Frequently asked questions (PDF)

Next steps

We will consider all the comments received and will make changes to the document where necessary. A consultation statement will be prepared to provide a summary of the comments received and how they have been taken into account. The final documents will then be presented to committee for adoption. We expect this to be around summer 2023.

Once adopted, the SPD will be a material consideration in determining applications and all development proposals be required to demonstrate that they have taken it into consideration.