Bath’s ambitious new city quarter, Bath Quays North, will indeed include affordable housing, a leading councillor has assured, clarifying earlier confusion. The council had recently secured planning permission for 96 flats on the Green Park Road Car Park site as part of the regeneration project. However, concerns arose during the planning committee meeting when the absence of explicit affordable housing in the initial plans was highlighted.
Council Cabinet Member for Housing, Matt McCabe, explained that while affordable housing could not be finalized at the planning permission stage, it remains a definite part of the development. “It’s completely fair for planning committee members — and subsequent letter writers — to expect affordable housing on council sites, and that commitment stands,” McCabe affirmed. He added that quantifying the proportion of affordable units is not feasible at this early stage.
In Bath and North East Somerset, large developments typically include 40% affordable housing. However, permission can be granted for a lower percentage if land costs render higher targets financially unviable. The council was advised that including affordable housing in this central Bath development would impact viability.
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Despite these financial challenges, the council is determined to address the local housing affordability crisis through innovative means, including leveraging its housing development company, Aequus Ltd. Last November, the council established a limited liability partnership (LLP) with Aequus to oversee the Bath Quays North development. This structure aims to optimize financial efficiency, enabling savings and profits to be reinvested into affordable and social housing across multiple schemes.
“The housing market has failed many residents of B&NES, and creating new social housing is a top priority for our Lib Dem-run council,” McCabe stated. “For the first time in a generation, we’re delivering council-owned homes.”
The LLP structure initially caused some misunderstanding during the planning phase, but the council assures that funding for affordable homes will be secured through this partnership and supplemented by Homes England grants. McCabe anticipates that approximately 30% or more of the development will be affordable, including social rental units.
The Green Park Road Car Park project will comprise two residential blocks: one five-storey building with 50 flats to the east, and a four-storey building with 46 flats to the west. A pedestrianized courtyard between the buildings will connect to Milk Street, which currently ends at the site’s northern boundary.
Concerns were raised at the planning committee about the height of the five-storey block, particularly its impact on neighboring two-storey properties. Local resident Klaas Koopmans expressed worries about loss of natural light.
Originally announced in 2019 as the most significant development in Bath in a generation, the Bath Quays North project stalled after the original developer withdrew amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The council’s creation of the LLP marks a renewed push to progress the residential element as well as a 65-home development in Bath Quays South. The council is also exploring new development partnerships.
In a strategic move, last year the council signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of Bath to consider the university’s involvement in the wider redevelopment. The university aims to create spaces for research, innovation, and enterprise activities within Bath Quays North, potentially reshaping this key city quarter for years to come.