A HOUSING project to create affordable homes at a former industrial site may not go ahead as originally planned due to developers facing a £650,000 funding loss.

MCI Developments had submitted the plans for the development of one and two-bedroom apartments, and two, three and four-bedroom houses, on the former industrial site on Lancots Lane, Sutton.

At the time, the developer said properties are to be made available as affordable rented properties and that it is hoped the plans will help contribute towards the ongoing regeneration of the area.

Planning permission was granted for 63 homes by St Helens Council in 2020.

However, partner company Torus Developments has submitted an application for the removal of a condition relating to affordable housing.

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This has requested that the council to remove the condition which states the development can only progress if at least 19 of the properties are affordable, according to the National Planning Policy Framework.

Planning condition 18 of the decision notice had stated: “At least 19 of the dwellings hereby permitted shall be affordable homes in perpetuity in accordance with the affordable housing definition in Annex 2 of the NPPF (February 2019). ”

In a statement in the application, senior planner Shaun Gaffey, on behalf of Torus, said the company relied on funding from Homes England and that it had been unable to secure the money due to the promised affordable homes.

St Helens Star: An aerial shot of the site taken in 2020An aerial shot of the site taken in 2020 (Image: Newsquest)

It said: “The applicant was not the applicant for the original application and had no opportunity to review the above conditions.

“The applicant is reliant on Homes England Social Housing Capital Grant Funding to deliver the Site and the Condition 18 has been raised as a barrier to funding”.

The statement added: “The permissioned scheme as it stands is therefore not viable, as the applicant is not in a position to deliver 19 affordable homes in perpetuity as per the requirement of condition 18.

“Whilst it is not the intention of the applicant to present a viability assessment with this application, we can confirm that the loss of Homes England funding at the scheme for 19 units would equate to approximately £650,000 of lost funding”.

If approved by the council, the removal of the condition would decrease the number of affordable homes in the planned development from 63 to 44.

A public consultation on the application lasts until Tuesday, October 4 with a determination deadline set for December 2.