I speak on behalf of the Faversham Community Land Trust. We have long been concerned about Swale’s poor delivery of social housing. Since 2018 across Swale just 149 social rent homes have been delivered, 3.1% of the total. Just 27 were  in Faversham.

Successive professional housing needs surveys have pointed to unmet need in Faversham.  Research conducted by the Thames Estuary Partnership in 2024 revealed that apparent prosperity “masks pockets of acute deprivation and high internal inequality. Up to now, growth has often created (and been driven by) inward migration from London, …  making the area less affordable for more established residents.” “. Most of those on the North Preston and Bysing Wood estates live in social housing, and there is often over-crowding, with younger adults unable to move out. Many have spent years on housing waiting lists.”

 The SEFaversham plan before you will result in more pressure on traffic, water and sewage.  and it is on greenfield land. Swale does not have power to refuse all new housing, and Faversham does not have power to insist that it is built to the west. In the east, there is only greenfield land available at the scale necessary to meet government targets.

The plan before you this evening  is superior to the others which have been built under Swale and for the first time it includes a clear commitment to build a policy compliant 35% affordable, of which 50%, 46 homes, would be social rent and more in future phases. This should be the new benchmark for Swale.  

In 7.23 the S106 includes a request for funding for NHS acute care. I do not recall seeing this on previous applications. We insist that NHS acute care should be funded by taxation through central government. Too often in the S106 negotiations social housing is sacrificed. For this reason, we demand that social rent homes be protected. Section 7.23.10 should be amended so that any amendment to the S106 should require the agreement of the Council Leader, Planning Chair and Ward Councillors. We hope that these councillors will stand up to protect this social housing, setting an example for others across the country. It would be unacceptable if Swale frustrated the plans for social housing included by the Duchy in their application. It is important that responsibility for failure to deliver is clear.