Winchester City Council
Winchester City Council
Winchester City Council, our “home” local authority in Hampshire. The cathedral city and ancient capital of England actually only forms a small part of what is otherwise a large rural authority. The district encompasses a large swathe of central Hampshire countryside – a sizeable part of which now falls within the new South Downs National Park.
Latest News from Winchester
Key points about developing in Winchester
Development Plan: Winchester has recently adopted a Core Strategy (now known as Local Plan Part 1 – Joint Core Strategy) which replaces some but not all of the 2006 Local Plan.
Pre-application advice: Winchester charges for this service (no charge for householder proposals) with fees dependent upon the scale of the proposal and whether you require a full detailed or an in-principle response. Call us for advice on whether this service is worthwhile in your case.
Affordable Housing: The new Core Strategy has no threshold so that any proposal which increases housing supply will be expected to provide 40% (of the gross numbers) as affordable housing. On sites of fewer than 5 dwellings a financial contribution will be accepted but 5 or more it will be expected on site.
Section 106 contributions:
Open Space - depends upon the location and the dwelling size: the worst case a 4 or more bedroom dwelling in one of the “high” cost wards for both children’s play and sports (such as Winchester city centre) would be £3,278. A one bed dwelling in a “low” area for both (such as our home parish of Twyford) would pay £1,114.
Transport – part of the Hampshire-wide Contributions Scheme, for new residential units it is £1,980 for a one bedroom unit, £3,745 for a two or three bedroom unit and £5,457 for 4 or more bedrooms - they should take into account the number of traffic movements the previous use generates.
So as an example a new 3-bed house in Winchester City centre would be around £6,200.
Special policy restrictions:
A substantial area of the district is within the South Downs National Park. The National Park Authority are actually the local planning authority for that area but they have delegated out most day-to-day determination of planning applications to the City Council only dealing with the most significant proposals.
The Council has a policy to try and encourage new small dwellings – on sites of 2 or more units at least 50% must be 1 or 2 bedroom dwellings under 75 sqm. There are also restrictions on extending or replacing small dwellings in the countryside.
Useful Links