Dropping affordable homes 'pragmatic' - councillor

A recommendation that a council-owned developer drops affordable homes from a new estate has been described as a "pragmatic response" by the council's housing lead.

Ten of 96 homes on the south-east edge of Ipswich were due to be sold at a discount until a report by borough council officers warned it was "not financially viable" due to market conditions.

At a meeting of the Labour-run council's executive on Tuesday, Alasdair Ross refused to apologise to residents after prompting from Lib Dem leader Oliver Holmes.

"The recommendation is a pragmatic response to market conditions and I do not agree an apology is required, it isn't something we've just come up with today," said Ross.

All 96 homes at Ravenswood are expected to be completed by borough council-owned Handford Homes in April, with the report recommending 10 properties be turned over to private rental.

"The council is reluctantly proposing this change due to rising housebuilding costs, which have meant that discounted market sale is no longer financially viable for these units," added Ross.

The homes are required by a section 106 legal agreement to be offered for affordable ownership and sold at a discounted rate, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Conservative leader Ian Fisher asked Ross what had changed since the development was given planning permission in 2021, with Ross explaining that the financial viability had been assessed for three years.

"We would like to have kept it as the original plan but that hasn't been possible and to wait any longer would just put further costs onto the actual development," he said.

Executive members allocated £15,000 to work out a planning application to turn the homes into private market rentals.

A final decision is expected during the full council meeting next week.

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