A report by the Director of Corporate Services requested Members to:-

(1)  approve the key findings of the Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) Update and Affordable Housing Viability Assessment undertaken by Fordham for Wirral;

(2)  approve the use of the findings to inform the preparation of the Council’s Housing Strategy Statement and the Council’s Local Development Framework;

(3)  recommend to Council that the findings of the Assessment and Viability Report be approved as a material consideration for use by Planning Committee in the determination of planning applications; and

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(4)  approve the use of Fordham Research Dynamic Viability Model to test the viability of sites within the Borough on an annual basis.

RESOLVED:  That

(1)  the findings of the Strategic Housing Market Assessment Update Report and the Affordable Housing Viability Study be approved;

(2)  the initial policy implications identified under section 5 of the report be noted;

(3)  the findings be used to inform the preparation of the Council’s Housing Strategy Statement;

(4)  it be noted that the findings are being used as part of the consultation process for the Core Strategy Development Plan Document which Cabinet approved on 23 September 2010;

(5)  the Cabinet recommends to Council that the Strategic Housing Market Assessment Update Report and the Affordable Housing Viability Study be approved as a material consideration for use by Planning Committee in the determination of planning applications;

(6)  it remains the ambition of the Cabinet to see a target of 40% affordability in new housing redevelopment reinstated as soon as market conditions make it viable; and

(7)  the use of Fordham Research Dynamic Viability Model to test the viability of sites within the Borough on an annual basis be approved.