Make housing developers be transparent
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Make housing developers be transparent in NewhamCurrent planning law states that if a developer won’t make enough profit on a new development, they can ignore a council's regulations about building affordable and social housing. Leaked documents from several developers have shown that the maths they use to work out their profit margins are purposefully misleading, allowing them to claim they will make less profit than is accurate on a development by undervaluing the prices of the houses they will sell and over-costing the labour. To combat this Islington, Greenwich, Lambeth and Bristol councils have introduced a policy that forces developers "viability assessments" to be made public. By bringing these dodgy maths into the public domain, Councils, campaigning groups and individuals will be able to hold developers to account and force them to use more honest maths.447 of 500 Signatures -
Make housing developers be transparent in SalfordCurrent planning law states that if a developer will make less than 20% profit on a new development, they can ignore a council's regulations about building affordable and social housing. Leaked documents from several developers have shown that the maths they use to work out their profit margins are purposefully misleading, allowing them to claim they will make less than 20% profit on a development by undervaluing the prices of the houses they will sell and over-costing the labour. To combat this Islington, Greenwich, Lambeth and Bristol councils have introduced a policy that forces developers "viability assessments" to be made public. By bringing these dodgy maths into the public domain, Councils, campaigning groups and individuals will be able to hold developers to account and force them to use more honest maths. The Salford Star estimates that over 1,000 affordable properties have been lost to the city via these 'viability' get out clauses, plus over £40million in planning fees and obligations. Barratt Homes even acknowledged the controversy that surrounds the avoidance of fees by developers... "We note the Council has supported residential developments based upon viability to support a reduced contribution, and this can be met with local political and community unease" See these Salford Star articles to read how Salford Council cocked it all up: http://www.salfordstar.com/article.asp?id=2770 http://salfordstar.com/article.asp?id=3534 http://www.salfordstar.com/article.asp?id=3574 ...And then please sign this petition...150 of 200 SignaturesCreated by Stephen Kingston
