Aylesbury Vale Area Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning Document

13. Rural Exception Housing

75. The council's approach to Rural Exceptions Affordable Housing is set out in the Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan (Policy H2). Rural exception sites are small-scale developments in rural areas, which would not usually secure planning permission, but which have been permitted by the council to meet an evidenced local housing need.

76. Paragraph 78 of the NPPF 2021 (sets out that councils should consider meeting the housing needs of rural areas through rural exception sites. It also advises that a small proportion of the homes provided may, at the local authorities' discretion, be market homes.

77. The council supports the development of affordable housing to meet a locally identified need in locations that would not normally be acceptable, by making an exception to adopted policy, subject to material considerations. The council considers that such schemes are an important way of helping to sustain rural communities.

78. As per VALP Policy H2, in order to minimise visual impact and provide reasonable access to local services and facilities, rural exception sites should be situated within or physically adjoining (i.e. abutting) the existing developed footprint of the settlements, be appropriate in scale, design and character to the surrounding locality and be reasonably accessible to village services and facilities. Sites that are remote from the existing developed footprint of a settlement will not normally be permitted for rural exception sites.

The VALP at para 5.15 sets out that Rural Exception Sites can come forward in areas designated as 'Rural Areas' which are the parishes listed within the Aylesbury Vale area of Buckinghamshire and maps shown in a Statutory Instrument. The Rural Areas are the whole areas of parishes listed in the following Statutory Instrument here and the maps within it at (from The Housing (Right to Acquire or Enfranchise) (Designated Rural Areas in the South East) Order 1997 - UK Statutory Instruments 1997 No. 625. The statutory instrument lists the areas (parishes by list and part parishes by map) where there is an exemption from 'right to acquire' on social rented properties. This assures that properties built on rural exception sites within these designated areas remain affordable in perpetuity.

79. Where an exception site is being proposed, an up-to-date Housing Need Survey for the Parish will be needed. The geographical extent of the survey should be agreed with the council.

80. To be up to date this Survey should be no more than 3 years old at the time of submission of a planning application for the development. The Survey will be used not only to justify the necessity of the release of the site, but also to ensure that the housing proposed meets the identified need and that this need cannot be met on a more suitable that would otherwise accord with policy. The applicant should assess local plan or neighbourhood plan allocations or planning applications to establish there is no such alternative suitable site. The survey should be initiated through and supported by the local community and use a Rural Housing Enabler (or a council recognised equivalent) and evidence of this will need to be provided to the council.

81. In instances where market housing is considered necessary on rural exception sites, the council will require clear site-specific evidence that this housing is needed. Its provision must be kept to the absolute minimum required to subsidise the delivery of the affordable housing element of the development to facilitate delivery without generating any profit. This will also need to be clearly evidenced by the applicant and be demonstrated in an independently assessed open book viability assessment.

82. The housing provided on these sites can only be occupied by households who have a housing need and a strong local connection to the community identified and need a suitable property to live in. If there are no households in the parish in housing need at the stage of letting or selling the property, it will be made available to other households in need on a cascade basis looking next at adjoining parishes and then to need in the wider district in accordance with the normal lettings policy for affordable housing. To ensure that this is achieved the Council will seek to negotiate appropriate agreements with the Registered Provider implementing an affordable housing scheme on a rural exception site.

83. Local market conditions, and local wage rates, will need to be considered in assessing the extent to which local people can afford accommodation in their area, and to determine what level of payment would be within their means. The council will expect occupancy controls to be put in place by the Parish Council that ensure that priority is given to people with a strong local connection in perpetuity. Long term control over occupancy must be able to be enforceable by the council and will need to be the subject of a legal agreement to which the council is a party.

84. In deciding on the appropriateness of the proposal, the relationship of the proposed site to the existing settlement will also be considered. The site should be within or adjoining the existing developed footprint of a settlement. Rural Exception sites can be in the Green Belt but as well as Policy H2 they would also need to meet Policy S4.

85. The council encourages early discussions to take place with the Housing Team. Please contact the Housing Officer to discuss a Rural Exception Site scheme proposal - details as set out below.