New higher affordable housing rule comes into force in Aviemore
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Builders in the Cairngorms National Park’s main housing hotspots will now have to provide 45 per cent affordable homes in their developments which is much more than nearly everywhere else in Scotland.
The rise from 25 per cent applies in Aviemore as well as Braemar, Ballater and Blair Atholl.
The new rule has been hailed as a “big result” by the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA).
The higher allocation will be in place for at least the next five years now that the Cairngorms Local Development Plan (LDP) has been formally adopted.
CNPA board convener Xander McDade said: “I’m particularly pleased that we have the first LDP to include an increased commitment to 45 per cent affordable housing in communities with the greatest need.
“This reinforces our commitment to be a Park for All and to ensure anyone who wishes to live and work in the national park can do so.
“As far as we know, the only other place in Scotland to have a Local Development Plan with an affordable housing requirement that is greater than the Scottish Government’s benchmark of 25 per cent is in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.
“There the national park authority used similar evidence of housing pressure to identify a requirement of 50 per cent in villages on the sides of Loch Lomond, and of 33 per cent in the settlements of Aberfoyle, Callander and Gartmore in the rural Stirling area of the national park.”
Willie McKenna, CNPA board member for the Aviemore area, is pleased more affordable homes will have to be built in the village.
He said: “The availability of affordable housing is one of the pillars in building sustainable communities.
“It has long been an issue in Aviemore, so I am delighted that the LDP lists Aviemore as one of the areas which will require any new housing developments to deliver 45 per cent affordable homes.”
Sam Faircliff, Cairngorm Brewery managing director, said the lack of affordable housing for key workers at the brewery is her biggest challenge when it comes to attracting skilled staff.
She said: “There is now so much demand for staff accommodation and changes to legislation regarding short assured tenancies has just made the situation even more challenging.”
Cairngorms Business Partnership boss Mark Tate welcomed the park authority’s “desire to deliver more affordable housing”, but said more has to be done to increase supply of new properties.
He said: “The lack of housing, to buy or rent, that is affordable for people who want to live, work in and care for the national park has long been one of the most significant challenges facing businesses looking to recruit staff or set up here.
“Evidence would suggest that the challenge has not been the number of homes approved for development by planners but the actual number of homes built.
“In the last plan the housing need was outlined at 690 homes, yet in the evidence paper supporting the consultation on the recently approved plan the completion rate of actual homes was an average of 70 per year.
“That’s 350 homes and well short of the identified need.
“Unless planning approvals, including the requirement for affordable housing, turn into actual homes then not much will change.”
Earlier in the process, Scottish Government Reporters agreed the CNPA had done everything it could on second homes and only changes in legislation at Holyrood would allow it to do more.
The new Cairngorms LDP including land zonings in communities in Badenoch and Strathspey is available by clicking here
