Housing
Flatted Accommodation
 
2.43 A key objective of the Local Plan is to deliver a mix of house types and tenures that best meet the needs of the district's population. Purpose built flats have the potential to provide homes for, in particular, young people who are first time buyers and for small households especially those resulting from changes in family units (i.e. when all children have left home). Flats for sale on the open market are not classified as affordable homes but, nevertheless, such accommodation is very often at the lower end of the value scale of market housing and so is more accessible.
2.44 There is, however, great concern that flat developments will result in buildings that are out of scale and character with normal family housing. This need not be the case but one of the mainstay considerations for any policy related to the construction of purpose built flatted accommodation must be that the proposed building should respect its setting.
2.45 The Purpose Built Flats policy is based primarily on a set of general principles against which to judge proposals on their merits rather than a set of rigid rules. Particular attention is paid to the need to ensure that any proposal can be satisfactorily accommodated in terms of intensity, scale, massing, traffic generation, parking, design and character. It is important that within existing residential areas
new flats are designed so as to reflect the character of the family housing in the area.
2.46 Within town centres different considerations may apply. In an urban situation it may be possible to accommodate proposals at a higher density. Suitable arrangements must be achieved to ensure adequate traffic circulation in town centre locations, but parking standards may be relaxed taking into account higher levels of accessibility.
2.47 Although the internal layout and design of flatted accommodation is primarily a matter for developers and Building Control, the Council believes that high quality flatted accommodation is desirable and that such development must pay adequate regard to issues such as soundproofing.

POLICY HP11 - FLATTED ACCOMMODATION
In considering proposals for purpose built flatted accommodation, the Local
Planning Authority will have regard to:

i. The impact of traffic on the amenities of surrounding dwellings;
ii. The relationship of storage and communal areas to surrounding dwellings and private garden areas;
iii. In areas of single family dwellings, the compatibility of the proposed scheme with its surroundings in terms of height, bulk and spaciousness of the site; and
iv. To the guidance in LPSPD2 and LPSPD5 on layout, design and parking standards.