Older persons housing and the affordable requirement
On an extra care scheme the affordable housing negotiation is usually settled before it starts, by the answer to a use class question that both sides would rather argue about later.
On an older persons housing scheme the affordable housing outcome is decided by the use class question, and the use class question is decided on the facts of the care offer. A scheme that is properly C2 sits outside most adopted affordable housing policies, which are written around C3 dwellings. A scheme that is C3 with a care package attached does not. Everything else in the negotiation, including extra care affordable housing contributions and viability, follows from where that line is drawn.
Applicants who leave the question vague in the hope of flexibility usually end up arguing it at committee, with less evidence than they would have had if they had confronted it at pre-application stage.
Why the use class question comes first
The Use Classes Order distinguishes C2 residential institutions, which include residential accommodation and care to people in need of care, from C3 dwellinghouses. The Planning Practice Guidance on housing for older and disabled people acknowledges that schemes vary and treats the characterisation as a matter of fact and degree for the authority.
The practical indicators are familiar. Registered care provision, communal dining as part of the offer, staff on site around the clock, and an assessed need for care as a condition of occupation all point one way. Self-contained flats with their own front doors, sold on long leases, with care available to buy, point the other.
Most extra care schemes contain features of both. That is why the answer is argued rather than looked up, and why the evidence matters more than the label on the brochure.
There is a further wrinkle on larger sites. A scheme can contain a C2 element and a C3 element in the same building, with a registered care wing alongside independent living flats. Where that is the proposal, describe the split by unit and by floorspace on the application form and on the drawings, because a description that blurs the two invites the authority to apply the less favourable reading to the whole.
Care provision and how it changes the assessment
Set out what care is actually provided, in hours and in kind, rather than describing it as available. A commitment to a minimum number of care hours per resident per week, delivered by an on-site team, is evidence. A statement that domiciliary care can be arranged is not.
The same applies to the communal offer. List the restaurant, the lounges, the treatment and therapy rooms, the assisted bathing facilities, the staff accommodation and the back of house space, with areas. That schedule does two jobs at once: it supports the characterisation argument and it feeds the viability appraisal.
Where the operator is known, say who will run the scheme and under what registration. Where it is not, say that, and explain what the obligation will require of any future operator.
Officers are reasonable about operator uncertainty on a consent-led scheme. They are much less reasonable about a care offer that shrinks between the planning statement and the section 106 drafting, so pitch the commitment at a level the business can actually carry.
Affordable housing sought on C2 schemes
A C2 characterisation does not end the discussion. Plenty of authorities have policies that seek affordable provision or a financial contribution from C2 development, and others apply a conversion, treating a number of bedspaces as equivalent to a dwelling.
Two questions are worth asking about any such approach. Does the adopted policy say so in terms, or is the requirement being read into a policy about dwellings? And what evidence supports the conversion ratio being applied?
Where the policy is explicit and evidenced, argue about quantum rather than principle. Where it is not, the point is worth taking, politely and early, in the Affordable Housing Statement rather than in a late letter.
Service charges and affordability in practice
Affordable housing in an extra care setting raises a problem that does not arise in general housing. The rent may be affordable while the service charge is not, because the service charge carries the communal facilities and the staffing model that make the scheme what it is.
Registered providers know this, and it is often the reason a provider declines to take units. Work out the likely service charge early, discuss it with the intended provider, and put the answer in the submission. A scheme that offers ten affordable units nobody can occupy has not met the policy, whatever the agreement says.
Viability arguments specific to this model
Extra care appraisals differ from mainstream residential appraisals in ways a reviewer will only accept if they are explained.
| Feature | Effect on the appraisal | What to evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Communal and back of house space | Build cost spread over less saleable area | Area schedule separating saleable and non-saleable |
| Extended sales period | Longer finance and holding costs | Absorption assumptions from comparable operating schemes |
| Fit out of care facilities | Capital cost outside standard build rates | Cost plan line items |
| Operator requirements | Constraints on layout and unit mix | Operator brief or heads of terms |
| Deferred income arrangements | Revenue recognised later or not at all in the appraisal | Clear statement of what is and is not included |
The guidance on viability expects assessments to be transparent and to be published, with limited exceptions. Anyone planning to rely on confidentiality should read viability at appeal and confidential appraisals before assuming the figures will stay private.
PlanScope can produce an AI-assisted draft Viability Assessment structured to the standard headings, with every input marked as to be confirmed until you supply it. Councils expect a suitably qualified author for this type of report, and professional review before submission is strongly advised.
Evidence of local need for the product
Authorities are entitled to ask whether the scheme meets a need they have identified. Most local plans now carry an assessment of housing need for older people, often split between sheltered, extra care and residential care.
Quote that evidence base where it helps, and deal with it where it does not. If the plan identifies a need for extra care and the scheme provides it, say so with the figures from the authority's own document. If the plan is silent, the argument has to be built from demographic evidence and from what is available locally.
Avoid the temptation to assert national statistics. A reviewer who checks one figure and finds it unsourced will discount the rest.
The strongest need evidence is usually the most local: waiting lists held by the county council's adult social care team, the number of existing extra care units in the district, and the distance residents currently have to move to find them. Those figures come from the authority itself, which makes them hard to argue with.
Securing the care element by obligation
The agreement is what makes the characterisation stick, so the drafting deserves attention.
- Define the permitted occupation: minimum age, assessed need for care or support, and any dependency criteria.
- Commit to a minimum care package available to every household, expressed in hours.
- Require the communal facilities to be provided and retained, listed by reference to the approved drawings.
- Restrict conversion to general market housing without a further permission.
- Set monitoring and reporting so the authority can check occupation over time.
Where contributions are deferred or indexed, the mechanism needs the same care as any other obligation; see deferred contributions and indexation.
This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it. Enter your postcode on PlanScope to see which reports your site needs.
PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.
Frequently asked questions
What decides whether a scheme is C2 or C3?
The level of care and support actually provided, and how the units are occupied, rather than the marketing description. Registered care with personal care provided to residents points towards C2. Self-contained flats sold on long leases with an optional care package point towards C3. Assisted living and extra care sit between the two, and the Planning Practice Guidance treats the answer as one of fact and degree for the authority.
Can a council require affordable housing on a C2 scheme?
Many do, through a local plan policy that applies to C2 development or by treating bedspaces as dwelling equivalents. Whether that is justified depends on the wording of the adopted policy and the evidence behind it. Where the policy is silent on C2, the starting point is that the requirement does not automatically apply, and any contribution sought has to be justified on its own terms.
Why does communal space matter so much to viability?
Extra care schemes carry restaurants, lounges, treatment rooms, hairdressing, staff areas and circulation that produce no sales revenue but cost the same to build as saleable space. That pushes build cost per saleable square metre well above general market housing. The appraisal has to show that relationship clearly, because a reviewer comparing headline build costs with mainstream housing will otherwise conclude the figures are inflated.
How is the care element secured?
Through a section 106 agreement. Typical drafting ties occupation to a minimum age, requires residents to have an assessed need for care or support, and commits the operator to making a minimum package available to each household. Some agreements also restrict the ability to convert the scheme to general market housing without a further permission.
Do event fees affect the planning assessment?
They are not usually a planning matter in themselves, but they affect the affordability argument. Where a scheme is presented as meeting an identified local need, a council may ask what the total occupancy cost is, including service charges and any deferred fee on resale. Answering that openly is better than being asked about it at committee.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.