FOI Request - Affordable Homes

Request 101003849752

I would like to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act please.

Please could you provide, for each of the past five complete financial years, and the first quarter of the current financial year:

1. The total number of affordable homes approved by the council in each year
2. A breakdown, for each year, of every development approved that included affordable homes and include: the name of the development or road in which it sits, the total number of housing units, the total number of affordable units, the tenure type of the affordable units i.e social rent, shared ownership
3. A list of approved developments in each year that did not provide the council's minimum requirement for affordable homes. Please provide the name or street location of the development, the total number of homes in that development, the total number of affordable homes and tenure type, the reason given for not meeting the affordable homes benchmark, and any alternative provided in lieu including the amounts of any cash contribution
4. What percentage of homes in a development the council says should be classified as affordable in its housing policy
5. The amount of cash in each of those financial years that was paid by developers in lieu of providing affordable homes, and how much of that cash is yet to be spent
6. How much money from the pot of cash paid into by developers in lieu of providing affordable homes that was spent on emergency or temporary accommodation

Response 30-09-2025

1. This information is published and available by using the advance search feature of the Council’s Planning Register which can be found on the Moray Council website. This information is therefore exempt under section 25 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, information otherwise accessible. For ease of reference please find a link to the web page here: https://publicaccess.moray.gov.uk/eplanning/search.do?action=advanced

2. This information is published and available in the Councils Strategic Housing Investment Plan which can be found on the Moray Council website. This information is therefore exempt under section 25 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, information otherwise accessible. For ease of reference please find a link to the web page here: Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP) - Moray Council http://www.moray.gov.uk/moray_standard/page_95565.html

3. Not held. There were none in the last 5 financial years. Information that is not held falls under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 - Information not held.

4. Moray Local Development Plan 2020 policy DP2 Housing has required developments of four or more houses to provide 25% affordable housing allocation.

5. Not held. We do not hold data on the totals of money paid for offset affordable housing that could not be delivered on site. Information that is not held falls under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 - Information not held. 
Please note, there may be a few smaller or remote developments where logistically it was not possible to provide affordable housing on site. In those cases, a commuted payment would be made instead to be re-invested by the Councils housing service.

6. The money received for commuted payments for affordable housing is for that purpose only.