HOU16 Affordable Housing in the Countryside

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council Local Development Plan Draft Plan Strategy 2030
Dúntadate_range16 D.F., 2019, 9:30am - 11 Nol, 2019, 5:00pm

Policy HOU16 Affordable Housing in the Countryside

Planning permission may be granted for a group of no more than 14 dwellings adjacent to a village or no more than 8 dwellings adjacent to a small settlement to meet an identified affordable housing need of a rural community. Planning permission will only be granted where the application is made by a registered housing association and where the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) confirm that the need cannot be met within an existing settlement in the locality.

In assessing the acceptability of sites outside a village or small settlement, the following sequential test in terms of location will be applied:

  1. land adjacent to the existing settlement limit, subject to amenity and environmental considerations;
  2. a site close to the settlement limits which currently contains buildings or where the site is already in a degraded or derelict state and there is an opportunity to improve the environment;
  3. an undeveloped site in close proximity to the settlement where the development could be visually integrated into the landscape.

All proposals will need to be sited and designed to integrate sympathetically with their surroundings, meet the General Policy and accord with other provisions of the LDP.

Only one such group will be permitted in close proximity to any particular rural settlement.

Justification and Amplification

Affordable housing includes social rented housing and intermediate housing (see Glossary).

Council will expect the affordable housing needs of rural communities to be met largely within villages and small settlements. However, an exception may be made where a specific need for affordable housing has been established through an up to date Housing Needs Assessment for the Borough, currently carried out annually by the NIHE, and where the need has not been foreseen and provided for through the LDP process.

Applications for affordable housing groups will be restricted to registered housing associations. Such proposals will need to be accompanied by information demonstrating that the potential to locate the necessary housing within settlement limits has been explored, and that no suitable sites are available.

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