Purpose

The Interim Affordable
Housing Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) was formally adopted
at the meeting of Cabinet on the 2nd of December
2025.
 
Paragraphs 1.4 of the
Cabinet Report recognised that the Interim Affordable Housing SPD
(December 2025) would replace the guidance provided in the
‘Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning Document’
(Adopted September 2013), for the following reasons:
 
1)    
To ensure that rented affordable housing is
genuinely affordable for households in need of such
housing.
2)    
To take account of changed Government guidance on
affordable housing.
3)    
To provide updated and expanded guidance on how our
planning policies for affordable housing should be
applied.
 
As the Interim Affordable
Housing SPD is now adopted, the previous guidance provided by the
Affordable Housing SPD (2013) should now be revoked. This will confirm
that this document is no longer a material consideration in the
decision-making process for planning applications.
 
Revocation is a
technical exercise, which the Council is required to carry out in
accordance with section 25 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase
Act 2004 and Regulation 15(2) of the Town and Country Planning
(Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012.
 
No consultation
is required, but a revocation statement will be published online,
and a notification will be sent to the deposit points (Council
offices in Berkhamsted and Tring) and local libraries requesting
that they remove hard copies from their reference
section.
 

Decision

In accordance with Regulation 15 of the Town
and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012,
following the adoption of the Interim Affordable Housing
Supplementary Planning Document, the Council has revoked the
Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning Document (2013).
 
As required under Regulation 15, following the
revocation of the Affordable Housing SPD (2013), all physical and
digital copies of the document will be removed from the Borough
Council Offices, public libraries and the Council’s website.
A revocation statement will be made available on the Dacorum
Borough Council website.
 
Revoking the superseded Affordable Housing SPD
(2013) will help to avoid confusion and make it easier for
applicants, officers and elected members when seeking out
information on planning policies and determining planning
applications. This would also ensure the Council’s framework
of supplementary guidance is robust and up to date.