Affordable Housing

4.58. The housing strategy in emerging Policy H/AH identifies the requirement for 40% of homes on sites of 10 or more dwellings to be affordable. It also sets out that the Councils will seek the following proportions of different tenures of affordable homes in South Cambridgeshire: 70% affordable housing for rent (social rent homes and / or affordable rent homes) and 30% intermediate tenures. The expectation is also to deliver 25% First Homes in line with the NPPF and transitional guidance.
4.59. Overall MGH is supportive of the proposed policy direction, but that the need for viability testing may arise in some areas. Housing affordability is a key issue for equality both nationally and more significantly, within Greater Cambridge. It is also an international issue. International companies able to offer better living standards with a smaller portion of wages needed to pay for living accommodation can tempt workers from the UK to other destinations across the globe. The government and local authorities recognise in the Oxford-Cambridge Arc document that median house price to median income ratio has been increasing across the UK, and is increasing more significantly across the Arc.
4.60. Savills estimates that for its economic potential to be reached, 9.6 million sq ft of business floor spaces is needed across the Arc, with 680,000 homes beyond the existing pipeline. If the Arc is to deliver its employment potential, housing affordability must be addressed through the building of significant numbers of homes.