Draft Greater Cambridge Local Plan for consultation

The criterion which applies stricter criteria to older persons’ housing than general needs should be amended to ensure the policy is effective.

Anchor Hanover, England’s largest provider of specialist housing and care for older people, supports the inclusion of a specific policy on older persons’ housing, given the significant and growing need.

We support the requirement for 10% of homes on sites of 1,000+ to be specialist housing, primarily focused on the needs of older and disabled people. In Anchor’s experience, the minimum viable scale for specialist housing developments is 65 homes; therefore, the policy requirement is likely to be effective.

However, we are concerned the policy applies stricter criteria to older persons’ housing than to general needs housing, which risks limiting delivery despite evidence of need. For example, while new homes may not always be within walking distance of local centres or facilities, for older people access by public transport is often more important, reflecting mobility issues. This criterion should be amended to ensure the policy is effective.

We support the flexible approach to housing mix. Anchor’s developments typically comprise single apartment buildings with around 70 high-quality social rent homes for older people, mainly one-bedroom apartments. Two-bedroom or larger homes are also difficult to let due to under-occupancy charges and the prevalence of single-person households. Flexibility in tenure and housing mix is therefore essential to ensure the viability and successful delivery of older persons’ housing developments to meet needs.

A more flexible approach to affordable housing mix should be taken for older persons’ housing. The supporting text to Policy H/SH recognises that it is often inappropriate for market and affordable homes to be delivered in an integrated manner.

We recommend that a more flexible approach to affordable housing mix is taken for older persons’ housing.

Anchor’s developments typically comprise single apartment buildings with around 70 high-quality social rent homes for older people, mainly one-bedroom apartments. Mixed tenure buildings (e.g. combining social rent with affordable rent or sale) can create market challenges and affect viability. Flexibility in tenure is therefore essential to ensure the viability and successful delivery of older persons’ housing developments to meet needs.

This is acknowledged in the supporting text to Policy H/SH which recognises that it is often inappropriate for market and affordable homes to be delivered in an integrated manner.

The policy should therefore be amended accordingly.

The policy should support all types of housing for older people, with proposals supported where they align with specific policies such as Policy H/SH. Separate targets for housing for older people and housing for disabled people would also be more effective.

The inclusion of a clear numerical delivery target for older persons’ housing is welcomed, as it will help ensure the policy is effective in meeting needs over the plan period.

However, we disagree with the prescriptive requirement on tenure. Policy H/SH is clear that planning permission will be granted where there is evidence of need, and that developers may submit their own evidence, which may be more up to date.

While the housing needs assessment suggests a surplus of affordable supported accommodation, Anchor’s five rented schemes in Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire provide 103 social rent homes and have 136 households on their waiting lists, demonstrating a clear unmet need for additional social rented supported housing for older people. In addition, existing rented stock may fall short of current accessibility, energy efficiency and condition standards and supporting regeneration is therefore vital. We therefore encourage the policy wording to be revisited to support the full range of specialist housing across all tenures, with proposals supported where they align with specific policies such as Policy H/SH.

We are also concerned that the housing target combines housing for older people and housing for disabled people. Separate targets for each would be more effective.