New Affordable Housing
Dover District Council is committed to delivering an ambitious programme of new Council housing which will see the highest number of new Council homes built in a generation. The Council also wants to support those who would like to own their own home but cannot afford to buy outright by facilitating an increased programme of affordable home ownership schemes.
The provision of new affordable housing is a key element of the Government’s plan to end the housing crisis, tackle homelessness and provide aspiring homeowners with a step onto the housing ladder.
Dover District Council would like to make sure that all new affordable housing is built to meet the needs of residents in the District. We also support Registered Providers (also known as Housing Associations) to build affordable housing.
Over the coming years, we plan to increase the number of new affordable homes we provide in the District ourselves. A current building programme is underway and you can find out more about this by reading the Dover District Local Plan.
Opportunities for local businesses may arise during the development of affordable housing. For details of how to do business with Dover District Council, please click here: Doing Business with DDC (dover.gov.uk)
What is Affordable Housing?
Affordable housing includes social and affordable rented homes, provided to specified eligible households whose needs are not met by the market. There are two main types of affordable housing, affordable rental properties and affordable home ownership. An affordable property can be a new-build property or a private sector property that has been purchased for use as an affordable home, and can range from flats, houses and bungalows.
Affordable homeownership includes properties through the Shared Ownership and First Homes schemes, both support first-time buyers into home ownership. More can be found out about these schemes by visiting our webpages below.
The planning process asks developers to included affordable housing as part of their new developments. Recently we have started to build new affordable housing ourselves, with a range of new Council Housing.
Community-led housing as well as self and custom house building is also a key aspect of providing new affordable housing in the district. The Council is here to support groups and individuals navigate their way through the funding, planning and development processes to provide affordable housing for themselves and their communities.
District Housing Needs Survey 2023
The Council undertook a district wide housing needs survey to determine the current and future housing need of residents. The survey was open from 10 January until 18 April. Click here to find out more about the survey and when the results from the survey will be released.
Discover what new affordable housing developments are planned, completed and currently on site in the district.
Discover more about affordable social housing in the district, the types of rent there are and how you can register your interest.
Find out more about shared ownership, current properties for sale in the District and how you can apply.
Find out more and keep up to date about First Homes.
Discover more about community housing, co-housing, community events, available funding and how you can take part.
Find out about what self and custom housebuilding is, events being held, and how to apply to the self-build register.
Understand what a Housing Need Survey is, and how it helps deliver affordable housing.
Find out the total number of affordable housing the Council and our Registered Provider partners have developed and acquired in the district.
Affordable housing updates
May 2023: Homes England launches its new Strategic Plan 2023 - 2028
Homes England, the Government's housing accelerator responsible for enabling the supply and development of new affordable housing, has published its next five-year Strategic Plan. The Plan sets out how Homes England will support communities and families by enabling the delivery of more good quality, affordable homes alongside the regeneration of towns and cities across England in tandem with the provisions set out in the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill 2022. The Plan commits to:
- Work in a more place based way, tailoring powers, funding, expertise and technical capacity to the specific challenges faced in different parts of England
- Focus on working with the Government to play an active role in building safety
- Provide support to local leaders to overcome capacity and capability barriers that are delaying delivery on the ground
- Contribute to the levelling-up agenda by expanding regeneration work that not only provides housing but also offers employment, retail and leisure spaces.
Discover more about the Plan and Homes England here.
March 2023: Help to Buy comes to an end
The Help to Buy service which was introduced in 2013 with the aim of supporting households buy a new build property without the need to pay a large deposit has now come to and end.
From 1 March 2023, prospective appplicants are not required to sign up to the Help to Buy service to apply and buy a Shared Ownership property. Applicants can now check themselves whether they are eligible for the Shared Ownership scheme by using Homes England's online eligibility checker.
July 2022: Building Safety Act 2022
The Building Safety Act 2022 overhauls existing regulations to ensure that residential builings are constructed, maintained and kept safe, and makes ground-breaking reforms to give residents and homeowners more rights, powers, and protections – so homes across the country are safer.
These changes mean that owners will manage their buildings better and the home-building industry has a clear framework to deliver more, and better high-quality homes.
It is expected that many of the provisions in the Act will be implemened over the coming years. Discover more about the Act here.
February 2022: Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022
The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 is due to come into force from 30 June 2022. The Act states that leases granted after this date cannot charge ground rents and instead should be set at a 'peppercorn' rate (£nil), although there are some exemptions. Discover more about the Act here.
September 2021: MHCLG rebranded as the Department for Levelling-Up, Housing and Communities
Michael Gove has replaced Robert Jenrick for Secretary of State for the rebranded Department for Levelling-Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) previously referred as the Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). Find our more here.
June 2021: First Homes scheme starts
The pilot for the new First Homes scheme has started. First Homes are a specific kind of discounted market sale housing to help first time buyers buy their first home and get onto the property ladder. Find out more by visiting the Government website and our First Homes webpage.
April 2021: New Shared Ownership scheme 2021 and Right to Shared Ownership
The Government will be funding a new model of Shared Ownership through the Affordable Homes Programme 2021-2026. up to 50% of homes delivered through this programme will be for the new model of Shared Ownership. The new model reduced the initial stake from 25% to 10% equity, and have enabled shared owners to staircase in smaller instalments of as little as 1%, down from 10%, with heavily reduced fees.
Alongside this scheme, the Government will also be implementing a 'Right to Shared Ownership'. This will help many people renting social housing who live in new homes delivered through the Affordable Homes Programme 2021-2026 get onto the housing ladder. Find out more here.
April 2021: Affordable Homes programme 2021 - 2026
The provision of affordable housing is a key element of the government's plan to end the housing crisis, tackle homelessness and provide aspiring home owners with a step onto the housing ladder. From April 2021 the Government has made £7.39 billion available to Homes England, the Government's housing accelerator, to deliver up to 130,000 affordable homes by March 2026 - outside of London. Find out more here.
Keep up to date with affordable housing in the district
Sign-up to our Keep Me Posted email bulletin service to keep up to date about affordable housing and development in the District by selecting 'Affordable Housing' as an interested topic.
Have a question? Why not send it to us on communityhousing@dover.gov.uk.
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Last updated 24 May 2023