A government decision to reject a planning application for 94 affordable homes has been greeted with “astonishment” by Ipswich Borough Council.
The planning application to build 68 houses for affordable rent, 24 for shared ownership and two specialist homes for social rent was approved by the local authority in November 2014, but was called in by the government the following January.
Communities secretary Greg Clark has turned down the application despite the recommendation of an independent planning inspector that the homes should go ahead.
The planned homes at Ravenswood, on the old Ipswich airport, would have added to a development of over 1,000 existing homes, 25% of which are already social housing.
In his decision letter, Clark cited concerns over “the very large cluster of affordable housing that the proposal would create… a marked increase on the size of any existing clusters elsewhere in Ravenswood. Despite the mix of different tenures of affordable housing, a single cluster of 94 affordable units would conflict with the objective to achieve developments in which the affordable units are truly integrated into the market housing… to create inclusive and mixed communities.”
Ipswich Borough Council leader David Ellesmere said: “After a public inquiry in September 2015, the planning inspector recommended approval but, after sitting on the report for more than six months, the secretary of state has now blocked the application on the grounds that the development should contain more homes for sale.
“This is an astonishing decision. I cannot think of another case in the country where a planning application has been turned down because the housing wasn’t expensive enough.
“The length of time it has taken the government to take this decision is likely to cost the council millions of pounds in lost rent, grants and increased construction costs. All the while, Ipswich families have been left languishing on the housing waiting list and jobs in the construction industry have gone unfilled.”
The council said it will now consider the government’s decision before it considers its next steps.
