Supplementary Planning Documents consultation

Latchmere House and HM Remand Centre Draft Planning Brief

The Council consulted from 11 January until 22 February 2013 on the Draft Latchmere House and HM Remand Centre Planning Brief(pdf, 4789KB).

The Draft Brief has been jointly prepared by the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBKuT) and the London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames (LBRuT), and relates to the former Latchmere House and HM Remand Centre. It is a decommissioned Ministry of Justice site and spans the northern boundary of the RBKuT and the south eastern boundary of LBRuT.

The purpose of the Brief is to provide the Ministry of Justice (the landowner) and prospective developers with planning guidance and a vision for the site. The key elements for any development are to:

• Be residential led mixed use that respects character and heritage of the area.
• Be of a high standard of design with an emphasis on open space and landscaping.
• Enhance the existing network of green space.
• Provide family housing for different tenures and income groups.
• Re-use Latchmere House and other buildings which contribute to the character of area.
• Provide community facilities on site.
• Reduce or mitigate against advertise impact on the wider area including on the transport network and parking.

The comments received will be fully considered in finalising the Planning Brief for the site. Once approved by both London Boroughs of Kingston and Richmond upon Thames, the Brief will form the basis for determining any future planning applications for this site. It is anticipated that the final version of the Brief will be agreed by early April 2013.

Affordable Housing SPD

The Council consulted from 27 April to 8 June 2012 on the draft Affordable Housing SPD. This is an update of the 2003 SPG, to reflect changes in the policy context and the funding of affordable housing. The advice is to be addressed in all proposals for new development or changes of use for wholly residential and mixed use sites incorporating residential use. Applicants, agents and developers are expected to use the SPD now it is published.

The draft SPD:

• Draft Affordable Housing SPD (including annexes)(pdf, 370KB)
• Affordable Housing Commuted Sum Calculation Pro-forma – example (part of Annex A) (MS Excel, 39KB)
• Marketing Pro-forma for Employment Land) Annex C (MS Word, 62KB)

The final version, taking account of consultation responses, is expected to be adopted later in 2012.

Further information and guidance to assist with the draft SPD

Further information and guidance will be added to help you understand and apply the Affordable Housing SPD.

Levels of rents per week for affordable rented units

For the levels of rents per week, for affordable rented units that can be included in the commuted sum calculation, see Annex A – paragraph 2.12 and cells F22-28 of the draft SPD.

Generally the following assumptions can be used:

For 1 and 2 bed units, this may vary by location, and if 80% of the open market rent is lower then the lower figure should be used.

Summary:This table shows the size of unit and maximum cost per week and can be read left to right and top to bottom.

National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)

The NPPF is not mentioned in the draft SPD as it was prepared before the NPPF was published. It states local planning authorities should address the need for all types of housing, including affordable housing, and the glossary provides a definition of affordable housing. It also recognises that to ensure viability, the costs of any requirements likely to be applied to development, including requirements for affordable housing, should, when taking account of the normal cost of development and mitigation, provide competitive returns to a willing land owner and willing developer to enable the development to be deliverable. It is considered that the draft SPD is consistent with the overall NPPF guidance, and references will be updated before the final SPD is adopted.

Buildings of Townscape Merit SPD

The Council consulted from Monday 14 February to Monday 28 March 2011 on an update to the Buildings of Townscape Merit planning information. The document sets out designation criteria along with the Council’s approach when considering proposals for alteration, extension or replacement of Buildings of Townscape Merit. The guidance, which originated in the early 1980s, has been updated to take into account subsequent changes to national and local policy context.

Buildings of Townscape Merit Consultation Draft SPD(pdf, 29KB)

View the existing Buildings of Townscape Merit planning information