Housing strategy

Affordable housing

To ensure provision of affordable homes, our adopted Local Plan requires housing developments of 10 or more homes to provide 30% affordable housing. We also welcome developments of less than 10 homes to provide for affordable housing which could be through 100% affordable housing schemes. This being subject to planning.

What is affordable housing?

Affordable housing is provided to eligible households whose needs are not met by the market. Eligibility is determined by local incomes and local house prices as per the National Planning Policy Framework definition. We are bound by national guidelines and do not decide what constitutes affordable housing.

Affordable housing can be described in different ways, such as:

• Social Rent – provided by us or registered providers; the rent is capped at 60% of market rent
• Affordable Rent – provided by us or registered providers; the rent is limited to no more than 80% of local market rent (including service charges where applicable)
• Shared Ownership – provided by us or registered providers; the purchaser buys a share of the property and pays rent on the remaining share

More detailed definitions can be found on National Planning Policy Framework Annex 2.

How can I find an affordable home?

For an Affordable Rent or Social Rent property, you need to apply to go on our Housing Register.

You can find registered providers selling Shared Ownership homes on Shared Ownership homes: buying, improving and selling or Shared Ownership Properties for Central Bedfordshire.

What affordable housing is available in Central Bedfordshire?

There are currently multiple housing developments (PDF) building affordable homes in Central Bedfordshire. For information on Shared Ownership please contact the named registered provider.

What we're doing to support delivery of wheelchair accessible and adaptable housing

Our adopted Local Plan requires all developments to provide a minimum of 35% adaptable homes. Adaptable homes are homes that can be changed through time to meet the changing needs of occupiers.

All developments must provide a minimum of 5% wheelchair adaptable homes. These homes require wheelchair users to be able to live in the dwelling and use the private outdoor space.

For further information on our Housing Standards Policy please refer to our Housing Policy Technical Guidance Supplementary Planning Document (PDF).

What we're doing to support delivery of affordable housing in rural areas

Rural Exception Sites are a key means of providing affordable homes in rural areas for local people. We have a policy in our adopted Local Plan which supports the delivery of affordable homes in rural areas through a rural exception site.

How we're meeting the needs of older people housing

In order to support the needs of older people, our adopted Local Plan requires all developments of 100 homes or more to provide bungalows or level-access accommodation as part of the development's overall housing mix. Furthermore, developments of 300 homes or more are required to provide an extra care facility.

For further information on our Housing for Older People's Policy please refer to our Housing Policy Technical Guidance Supplementary Planning Document (PDF).

We also have a specialist team working in the area of older people's accommodation. Find out more about older people's accommodation.

Designated Protected Areas

To help keep affordable homes available in certain places, the government has created Designated Protected Areas. In these areas, there are specific regulations for shared ownership properties. If a shared ownership home is in a Designated Protected Area, the lease must either:

• Limit home ownership to 80%: the leaseholder can only buy up to 80% of the property; or
• Require the landlord buy-back the property: if the leaseholder can buy more than 80% of the property, the landlord must purchase the home when the leaseholder wants to sell it.

These rules are set out in a legal document called the Housing (Right to Enfranchise) (Designated Protected Areas) (England) Order 2009. Further information is available on the Government website. This includes how waivers can be applied for to remove the requirements.

We have created an interactive map showing which parts of Central Bedfordshire are in Designated Protected Areas. Explore the map of Central Bedfordshire.