Supplementary Planning documents and other guidance

 Update to the Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning Document (SPD)

Runnymede Borough Council are consulting on an update to the Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning Document, which was adopted in April 2022. The main reasons for updating the Affordable Housing SPD are because:

• The publication of the updated National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in December 2024 and the significant implications that this has on affordable housing delivery in Runnymede, which it is considered need to be clearly spelt out by updating the existing Affordable Housing SPD.
• Of the difficulties that the Council is being told by developers that they are experiencing in selling affordable housing units on s106 sites to Registered Providers. In particular, it is considered that the existing affordable housing calculator (Appendix 3 of the existing Affordable Housing SPD) is not transparent or easy to use and it is therefore proposed to replace this calculator with a methodology devised by the consultants, Dixon Searle Partnership, that is much easier to apply and more transparent.
• Having had the Affordable Housing SPD in place for three years, it is considered that it would benefit from several updates. These relate to the following areas - deleting the list of preferred Registered Providers, updating the rounding section of the document to ensure that any rounding still complies with the affordable housing requirement, updating the template s106 agreement in Appendix 2 of the existing SPD and providing further clarification as to what is meant in Policy SL20 with regards to the ‘site being sub-divided to fall under the affordable housing threshold’. 

The updated draft of the Affordable Housing SPD is open to public consultation for four weeks from Monday 9 June 2025 until 5pm on Tuesday 8 July 2025. A copy of the draft SPD and supporting documents and how you can make representations can be found on Consultations and surveys webpage.

• Consultations and surveys
• Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning Document - April 2025

It is paramount that local people in Runnymede have the opportunity to live in decent and affordable homes.  Securing homes for all is key to ensuring that people have decent life chances and it also helps to build strong communities and boost the economy.

The Council is committed to increasing the delivery of affordable housing, as set out in the Runnymede Housing Strategy Statement 2021-2026 (February 2021). The Council’s aspiration, as set out in the Housing Strategy Statement, is “for sufficient and affordable, good quality housing that is accessible and suitable for local people in Runnymede. We are responding to the changing demographic and economic needs of our communities to deliver housing that promotes health, wellbeing and financial stability.” 

This SPD sets out the Council’s approach to securing planning obligations in respect of affordable housing from new development across the Borough. It also aims to provide clarity and guidance on implementing the Runnymede 2030 Local Plan affordable housing policy (Policy SL20) by setting out when, how and what affordable housing the Council expects in new developments. The Affordable Housing SPD was adopted on 13 April 2022, with implementation from 20 April 2022. Its contents are a material consideration in decision making in the Borough.

A copy of the adopted SPD, Adoption Statement, Regulation 12 Consultation Statement as well as the screening determinations for Strategic Environmental Assessment/Habitats Regulations Assessment and updated Equalities Impact can be viewed below

•  Affordable Housing SPD March 2022
•  Adoption Statement
•  Regulation 12 Consultation Statement
•  SEA/HRA Screening March 2022
•  EqIA Screening March 2022

The Council’s list of the Council’s preferred affordable housing providers can be viewed in the document below:

•   The Council's Registered Provider Development Partners