Aylesbury Vale Area Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning Document

2. What is Affordable Housing?

4. The adopted Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan (VALP) contains policies setting out the requirements for affordable housing (see Policy H1 Affordable housing and Policy H2 Rural exception sites).

5. VALP at para 5.1 uses the definition of Affordable Housing, as set out in the NPPF September 2012 in the Glossary. This means

"Social rented, affordable rented and intermediate housing, provided to eligible households whose needs are not met by the market. Affordable housing should include provisions to remain at an affordable price for future eligible households or for the subsidy to be recycled for alternative affordable housing provision. The definition explicitly excludes 'low-cost market' housing."

6. Only organisations that are registered with the Regulator of Social Housing are accepted as being registered providers (RPs). RPs own and manage affordable housing stock in the Aylesbury Vale area. Early engagement with RPs is beneficial as this can reduce design related issues with the dwellings. The council maintains a list of RP partners that are active in the Aylesbury Vale area, which can be provided upon request.

7. In 2021 the government introduced the requirement that 25% of affordable homes must be First Homes. These are properties that have a maximum purchase price of £250,000 and include a minimum 30% discount for first time buyers who meet qualifying criteria.

8. First Homes do not appear in this SPD as they are not required to be provided in Aylesbury Vale as the VALP was adopted in September 2021 and so covered by transitional arrangements (see Government's First Homes policy Paragraph: 018 Reference ID: 70-018-20210524
here.). The Council is publishing a separate First Homes Position Statement for all the Buckinghamshire Council area.