Major city centre housing development could have no affordable housing

Another major new housing development in Bristol could have no affordable housing provision if approved.

Plans for a mixed-use development with 432 homes on the old Robins and Day Peugeot car dealership site opposite Temple Meads have raised questions over the lack of affordable housing provision.

After submitting original plans in 2022, developers Dandara Living held a public consultation, where concerns were raised about the number of affordable dwellings, the height of the building, and the number of commercial units.

Since then, Dandara revised their plans, lowering the height of the development by five storeys in January, and including more community space.

But concerns have continued to be raised about the lack of affordable housing at the site.

Under the current revised plans for the site, there are no provisions for affordable housing, despite recommendations from Bristol City Council and Bristol Civic Society.

The proposed development would replace the old Robins and Day Peugeot car dealership opposite Temple Meads – photo: Mia Vines Booth

Bristol City Council’s policy is for 30 per cent affordable housing outside the city centre, and 40 per cent inside. However this was reduced to 20 per cent in 2018, on the conditiont hat developers agreed to build their flats and apartments within a certain time frame.

The policy states that developments should provide a mix of affordable housing units and contribute towards the creation of ‘mixed, balanced and inclusive communities’.

But a spokesperson for the council said it has limited powers to enforce even a 20 per cent threshold, with the economic viability to the developer influencing how much affordable housing will be provided.

A viability assessment produced in February concluded that the development was simply not viable with affordable housing, and recommended that no affordable housing was provided.

The document stated: “Given the level of findings of this FVA (funding value adjustment), we believe our case robustly demonstrates that 20 per cent affordable housing provision cannot be accommodated within the scheme.

“The baseline appraisal generates a significantly negative land value and a significant viability deficit. Only by reducing the affordable housing to 0 per cent provision does the land value improve to make the scheme deliverable.”

When asked about the lack of affordable housing, a spokesperson for Dandara Living said the viability assessment would have to be verified by Bristol City Council before any final decision was made, so there was still a possibility that affordable housing will be drawn into later plans.

A spokesperson for Bristol City Council said: “Bristol has a housing crisis so we seek to negotiate as much affordable housing as possible from developments on private land. These negotiations are ongoing with Dandara about this site.

“Current national planning regulation does not support local authorities to negotiate more affordable housing on private developments and while we put forward what we would like to see being developed on private sites our powers are limited.

“Since 2016, over 11,000 new homes have been built in Bristol including 2,563 new homes in the year to April 2022.

“Almost 500 affordable homes were built in that year, the most in more than a decade. Much of this has been achieved by working with developers and landowners despite the challenges the national planning framework opposes us.”

Main photo: Dandara Living

Read more:

• New plans for site opposite Temple Meads revealed after public consultation
• Design competition launched for 100 per cent affordable housing scheme
• Where should Bristol build homes in the midst of a housing crisis

Listen to the latest Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast: