FI14844
Request
Please note the term fully accessible is used to mean a home which is wheelchair accessible into and throughout , by either being ground floor throughout or having a through floor lift, having suitably sized doorways/ spaces and including a wheelchair accessible wet room . While not every disability will need such a property, all levels of disability can be covered by its provision. As such questions 1-3 relate to fully acessible properties.
- When applying for planning permission, are property developers asked to follow any kind of guidance under the Equality Act 2010 with regards to whether they decide to include any fully accessible properties in their plans ? If so could I please have a copy of the guidance.
- Does Dover District Council have equality policy in place for determining a fair ratio of standard to fully accessible builds ? If so could I please have a copy of this policy.
- Since January 2021 how many new homes have been granted planing permission in deal and warmer ? How many of the new homes granted planning permission were fully accessible , how many of these where more than 1 bedroom ?
- It's been explained that the current new builds cannot be adapted due to a defects liability period. However were any assessments carried out to determine whether the builds would be suitable for adoptions after the 12-month defect period ? If so what assessments were carried out ? (For example, suitability for a stairlift/ through floor lift, suitability for a walk in wet room to be fitted)
Response
1 No
2 The Council’s Core Strategy (2010) at Policy CP5 required new residential developments to meet Code for Sustainable Homes Level 3 which, among other factors, incorporated Lifetime Homes Standards in relation to accessible dwellings. However the Code for Sustainable Homes was withdrawn by central government in 2015 and replaced with Planning Practice Guidance on optional technical standards for housing. In this sense, ‘optional’ means it is up to local planning authorities whether to apply the standards through their subsequent Local Plans and this decision must be based on robust evidence. The evidence supporting the emerging Local Plan shows a clear need for adaptable and accessible dwellings as per Building Regulations M4(2) and M4(3), so policy PM2 (page 249) includes the requirement that all new homes following the Plan’s adoption should be built to M4(2) standard, and additionally 5% of homes on schemes of 20 or more dwellings built to M4(3) standard. The emerging Plan has recently completed consultation on its proposed Main Modifications (where PM2 can be seen on page 141-142) although no changes were proposed to the standards for adaptable/accessible housing described above. The Council expects to receive the Inspectors’ final report on the Plan later this summer leading to adoption of the Plan in the autumn.
3 Since January 2021, 771 new homes have been granted planning permission in Deal and Walmer. Out of those, there are 2 known applications which include accessible units:
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Application Number
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Decision date
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Expiry date
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Site Address
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Parish
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Description
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Total Number of Units
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Number of Wheelchair Accessible Units
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House Type
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Number of bedrooms
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Development Status 23/24
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21/00896
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04/03/2022
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04/03/2025
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Land On The North East Side Of Middle Deal Road
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Deal
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63 dwellings
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63
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1
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Apartment C
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1
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NOT STARTED
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21/01683
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21/12/2022
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21/12/2025
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Site at Cross Road
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Deal
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100 dwellings
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100
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1
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Maisonette
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2
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UNDER CONSTRUCTION
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As the Council’s Core Strategy (2010) did not include the need to monitor accessible homes, this list may not be exhaustive.
4 The Council does not hold this information.