Go ahead for dozens of ‘affordable’ new flats to be built on old town centre car wash site

Dozens of ‘affordable’ new flats are to be built on a former car wash site in Stockport after planners gave the go-ahead for the scheme. It means a pair of adjoining blocks housing 73 apartments will go up on disused land at King Street West - part of the much-vaunted ‘Town Centre West’ regeneration zone, or ‘MDC’.

Brought forward by housing association Great Places the ‘high quality’ scheme appears to be 100pc affordable - with all the one and two-bedroom homes available through the government-backed Rent to Buy scheme. However, after five years tenants have the opportunity to purchase their apartment outright, or can increase their share in it over a longer period of time via a process known as ‘staircasing’.

Coun Andy Sorton - who has previously raised concerns over affordable housing ‘disappearing’ from the site - again brought up the issue at a meeting of the council’s planning committee. While he said this was not grounds for rejecting the application - as 100pc affordable housing goes well beyond council requirements - he stressed the need for long-term affordable housing in the town centre.READ MORE: Boost for Stockport’s carbon-neutral mission as £1m funding secured for renewable energy schemes

“When is affordable housing not affordable housing?” he said. “Well, after five years.”Coun Sorton accepted this was not the fault of Great Places, but a condition of the funding it had secured from Homes England for the development. “It’s a minimum of five years affordable housing, it doesn’t last into perpetuity,” he said.

“The affordability then lies in the hands of the person that’s buying it. Yes, the funding will be recycled but land is at a premium, and that’s the difference. You can recycle funding but you can’t