PLANNING chiefs in West Berkshire say they are getting tough on developers who try and avoid building affordable houses.

When developers are granted planning permission for a major development, a condition is imposed which requires them to build a certain number of homes that can be rented out at a discounted price by a council or a housing association.

But the charity Shelter says the number of affordable homes they are required to build is often cut by councils because developers use a viability assessment to show that building them could reduce their profits to below 20 per cent.

READ MORE: 15,000 home plan may be scrapped due to 'potential radiation emergency'

And some developers building in West Berkshire have attempted to argue that they don’t need to provide affordable homes because they are building care housing for elderly and other vulnerable people.

But the leaders of West Berkshire Council say they are cracking down on developers who try and wriggle out of their commitments, as there is an urgent need for these properties.

Cllr Hilary Cole, executive member for planning, said: “There are very few sites where we don’t get that affordable housing delivered.

“If a developer comes forward and starts talking to us about viability then we hit back very hard and are very insistent that they meet their commitments to deliver affordable housing.”

The council has also published a draft Local Plan for 2020 to 2037, which sets out how many affordable homes have to be built during a major development.

It closes the care housing loophole but says developers can apply for their affordable housing requirement to be reduced if there are “exceptional circumstances” and it is “fully justified by the applicant through clear evidence set out in a viability assessment”.

It also states developers building between five and nine homes must ensure 20 per cent of them are affordable.

If a developer wants to build more than nine, they will have to make 30 per cent affordable if the site has been previously developed on or ensure 40 per cent are affordable if it’s a greenfield site.

READ MORE: Reading council scraps £180 million commercial property spending spree

People in West Berkshire can have their say on the draft Local Plan during an eight-week public consultation, before the council submits it to the government for approval.

The council hopes the plan, that would underpin its planning policy, can be adopted by September 2022.

According to the document, around 575 homes should be built in West Berkshire each year until 2037 and most of them should be located around Thatcham or Newbury.