A HOUSING association which manages more than 1,400 properties in Keighley and Bradford fears the provision of affordable homes is under threat.
Manningham Housing Association has voiced its concern at the proposed axing of Section 106 agreements.
It says that under the current system, developers are compelled to provide affordable properties as part of any new housing scheme – and that the agreements account for almost half the affordable homes provided across the country each year.
Association chief executive, Lee Bloomfield, describes the Government proposal – contained in a consultation document, Planning for the Future – as “short-sighted at best, blinkered at worst”.
He said: “We share the Government’s ambition to oversee the building of many more homes but for the national housing crisis to be properly addressed, a significant proportion of these must be genuinely affordable properties.
“Whilst the Section 106 process is far from perfect, it facilitated the delivery of 49 per cent of all affordable homes in England in 2018-19.
“There is no comparable mechanism in the Government’s White Paper, which is a cause of deep concern for housing associations such as ourselves and - more particularly – for the communities we serve.”
The Government is proposing to replace Section 106 agreements with a new flat-rate charge.
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