Councillors Clash Over Affordable Housing Cuts

Councillors clashed after developer Irongate Property asked to cut the affordable homes at a new Upper Crown Street scheme near Reading town centre.

The approved project from October 2023 will replace a car park and storage with 42 flats across two blocks and a terrace of four three-bed houses. The developer wants to tweak layouts, add EV charging and reduce the affordable offer from 14 units to five.

Originally the scheme offered five one-bed and five two-bed flats at Reading Affordable Rent and four one-bed shared ownership. The revised offer is two one-beds and two two-beds at affordable rent and one two-bed shared ownership - a net loss of nine affordable homes, against the council's 30% policy.

The reduction was justified in a financial viability assessment. Irongate needed planning permission to make the changes.

At the planning committee on July 22 councillors rowed over the cut. Cllr Josh Williams (Green, Park), who voted against the scheme in 2023, said:

"One of the significant weights in its favour was the 30 per cent affordable housing. If you take away that significant weight, you remove a big plank that was holding up a scheme our officers hadn’t liked.

"Remove that, then your just left with something that’s far from perfect."

There were fears at risk of an appeal, which was acknowledged by Cllr Andrew Hornsby-Smith (Labour, Church).

Cllr Micky Leng (Labour, Whitley) hit back: "Cllr Williams, a Green councillor, has voted against policy-compliant affordable housing on previous applications, says it all really!

"Viability it viaibility, [it’s] set in stone in the National Planning Policy Framework."

Cllr Williams then requested a point of order, stopping Cllr Leng, who exclaimed, "What?" Williams asked: "Is this a non-political committee chair? I just wonder whether you want to remind members, up to you."

Chair Cllr Richard Davies (Labour, Thames) told members: "Members are free to say what they like within the bounds of civility etc, and I don’t think he criticised your political party or made a political point of view.

"It is a factual statement."

In the vote, all five Labour councillors supported the changes; all four opposition councillors opposed them.

You can view the application by typing reference PL/25/1338 into the council’s planning portal.

James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter