HOUSING consultants say it may not be viable to provide 40 per cent affordable housing on the future Manydown development.

In a report to the latest full council meeting, housing consultancy firm Three Dragons calculated that the borough council’s target of 40 per cent affordable housing on the development may not be viable due to the amount of developer contributions that can be claimed for building on the land.

A Section 106 agreement is an agreement between developers and local authorities to fund site-specific infrastructure improvements and is used to ensure that 40 per cent affordable housing is achieved on a development.

However, the borough council is hoping to implement a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), which is a general charge on development greater than 100 square metres to fund infrastructure needed as a result of increased development in an area.

The report has calculated that £17million would need to be spent on two schools to serve Manydown as well as £10.4m for a spine road and £2.2m for a bus route.

In calculating the viability of building on Manydown, Three Dragons has calculated a residual land value that reflects the value of the land once the development has been completed, taking into account the cost of building, fees and the return to the developer.

This has identified that the value of land is less than expected which means that the scheme, with 40 per cent affordable housing, is not viable.

As a result, the report says it is not viable to charge a CIL rate for Manydown and the development will rely on section 106 agreement funds alone to provide the infrastructure needed for the site.

The report into the Manydown scheme has said that if the new infrastructure is funded through CIL funds, then the scheme with 40 per cent affordable housing will be viable with £482,000 given to the borough council for each hectare.

However, if the infrastructure is funded through a Section 106 agreement, 40 per cent affordable housing would not be viable with the council receiving a lower sum of £335,000 per hectare.

Councillor Sean Keating, Labour councillor for South Ham, told the meeting: “If Manydown cannot produce 40 per cent social housing, we are failing in our responsibility to the people of the borough.”

Cllr David Potter, Labour ward member for East Popley, added: “Our position as Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council should be very clear on this. We bought this site based on the money achieved in the sale of council houses so high quality social housing could be provided on Manydown. If we can’t get 40 per cent housing at Manydown, where can we get it?”

But Cllr Mark Ruffell, Cabinet member for planning and infrastructure, defended the report, saying that was based on current figures which could change in the future, adding: “I can’t give a commitment that we are committed to 40 per cent (affordable housing) because it simply won’t be built if we did that.”

A public consultation on the prices that can be charged under CIL has now been launched and will run until December 19.