Planning approval by Pure Town PlanningBournemouth Borough Council: Pure Town Planning have recently convinced Bournemouth Borough Council, or rather the District Valuer, that a scheme for the conversion of a house into five flats in Bournemouth should not be liable for any affordable housing contribution whatsoever.

Pure Town Planning were called in by the owner of the site to assist following a withdrawn application because the architect who submitted the previous scheme was faced with a request from the Council for almost a £90,000 contribution towards affordable housing! Clearly the applicant was knocked off his feet when he heard this and decided to withdraw the application.

Pure Town Planning submitted an almost identical application but this time it included a comprehensive viability report which convinced the District Valuer that it would not be financially viable for the developer to pay the requested £90,000. We successfully demonstrated that when you assess the relatively low GDV against the Existing Use Value and then consider all the other costs involved, it was clear that there was not enough in the ‘pot’ to justify an affordable housing contribution in this instance.

Do you have a current application in with the Council on which you believe the requested affordable housing contribution is unreasonable? Then why not take advantage of our completely confidential, FREE half hour consultation by emailing the details to info@puretownplanning.co.uk and we can advise you on the likelihood of your contribution being reduced or removed altogether!