Policy H/ES: Exception sites for affordable housing

1. Rural Exception Sites to meet identified local housing needs in rural parishes on small sites adjoining a defined development extent of a Rural Centre, Minor Rural Centre, Group Village or Infill Village will be permitted subject to: 

  a. there being demonstrable social or economic need for affordable housing for local residents which cannot be met in any other way, which can reasonably be expected to persist in the long term, and which is evidenced by an independent local housing needs assessment; 

  b. the number, size, design, mix and tenure of affordable homes being limited to, and reflecting, identified local needs, as evidenced by an independent housing needs assessment; 

  c. the development being of a scale and location appropriate to the size, facilities and character of the settlement. Where there are groups of smaller settlements, development in one village may support services in a village nearby and meet housing need within a wider catchment area where that area has been agreed with the Council; 

  d. for sites at settlements within or adjoining the Green Belt, that no alternative sites exist that would have less impact on Green Belt purposes; and 

  e. the affordable homes being secured in perpetuity for occupation by those in need of affordable housing. Mortgagee in Possession clauses will be allowed to enable development to proceed. 

2. Rural Exception Sites will be delivered by, or in partnership with, Registered Providers or community-led housing groups and must be named in the relevant s106 agreement. 

3. First Homes Exception Sites to meet identified local housing needs on small sites adjoining a defined development extent in South Cambridgeshire will be permitted subject to: 

  a. demonstration that a First Homes Exception Site is a more appropriate development for the proposed site than a rural exception site; 

  b. the development being of a scale and location appropriate to the size, facilities and character of the settlement; 

  c. the development being located outside of the Green Belt; 

  d. the number and size of the First Homes being commensurate with demand for First Homes within South Cambridgeshire, that there is a realistic likelihood that all homes will be occupied by people with a local connection to South Cambridgeshire, and that this is evidenced by an independent housing needs assessment; and 

  e. any other forms of affordable housing proposed within a First Homes Exception Site being acceptable based on evidence of local need from the adjoining settlement for those tenures of affordable homes. 

4. All affordable homes on either a Rural Exception Site or a First Homes Exception Site will be subject to a local connection criteria policy. 

  a. For a Rural Exception Site the local area is defined as the parish in which the scheme is located (or village if more appropriate), and for a First Homes Exception Site the local area is defined as being South Cambridgeshire. 

  b. For Rural Exception Sites the local connection criteria will be applied for 3 months before a cascade system will be used. 

  c. For First Homes Exception Sites the local connection criteria will be applied for 3 months, but for the first 4 weeks of this period priority will be given to people with a local connection to the adjoining village. 

  d. An applicant for an affordable home on either a Rural Exception Site or a First Homes Exception Site will be considered to have a connection to the local area if they meet one or more of the following criteria: 

    i. the applicant is in full time or part time employment in the relevant local area for 16 hours or more per week; 

    ii. the applicant has lived in the relevant local area for at least 6 of the last 12 months, or 3 of the last 5 years; 

    iii. the applicant has family members who have been resident in the relevant local area for a period of 5 years or longer and are currently resident in the relevant local authority area. Family members are defined as parents, adult sons and adult daughters, or brothers or sisters. Other family associations will be considered on a case-by-case basis; or 

    iv. there are special circumstances that the council considers give rise to a local connection. 

5. In order to facilitate the delivery of significant additional affordable housing the Council will consider allowing some market housing on rural exception sites and First Homes Exception Sites where demonstrated to be necessary on viability or deliverability grounds: 

  a. where market housing is proposed on Rural Exception Sites or First Homes Exception Sites it should be of a scale and mix appropriate to the exception site and designed to integrate with the affordable housing; 

  b. viability should be based on exception site land values; and 

  c. the delivery of any market housing through custom and self build plots will be encouraged. 

There is a shortage of affordable housing in Greater Cambridge. There is a particularly acute shortage in many rural communities where the Right to Buy is an attractive option to tenants and few new affordable homes have been built due to national policy not requiring affordable housing on developments of less than 10 homes. Rural Exception Sites have been delivered successfully over many years in South Cambridgeshire. 

Exception sites deliver affordable housing in perpetuity where sites would not normally be permitted for housing. They are located adjacent to an existing settlement and have not been allocated for housing within a Local or Neighbourhood Plan. Rural Exception Sites support local communities by prioritising the new affordable homes for people with a local connection to the parish or village concerned. This is achieved by applying the local connection criteria set out in the policy. Priority is given to applicants who meet the criteria. Where there are no suitable applicants meeting the criteria the definition of local is widened to include neighbouring parishes and / or the district, and this will be set out in the s106 agreement. The local connection criteria policy is applied each time an affordable home on a rural exception site becomes available. 

Some villages are very small and whilst housing need may be acute for the people concerned it may not be large enough in scale to support a viable Rural Exception Site scheme. It may be appropriate, sometimes, to develop a scheme in one village that can support a small cluster of villages thereby supporting local facilities that are serving a catchment beyond the village where they are based. Any clusters of villages or parishes should be agreed with the Council and the housing needs assessment will need to cover the agreed area. The villages selected for this approach should be in close proximity, ideally with sustainable transport connections, and with some form of functional relationship such as school or GP surgery catchment areas. 

The government introduced the concept of a First Homes Exception Site to replace entry-level exception sites. Although, First Homes Exception Sites will comprise primarily First Homes they can include other affordable housing tenures where there is evidence of need. 

Government planning guidance on First Homes allows local authorities to apply their own eligibility criteria such as a local connection criteria, a local income cap or key worker criteria. The draft plan applies the national criteria to First Homes regarding price caps, household income caps and discount levels. However, a specific local connection criteria has been included in the policy. In line with Planning Practice Guidance, these local eligibility criteria will apply for 3 months from when a home is first marketed. If a suitable buyer has not reserved a home after this point, the eligibility criteria will revert to the national criteria. To maximise the number of homes on a First Homes Exception Site that are occupied by households with a local connection to the village concerned priority will be given to these households for the first 4 weeks within the 3 month period. 

To demonstrate why a First Homes Exception Site is better suited than a Rural Exception Site, an applicant must demonstrate that the availability of First Homes or other affordable home ownership tenures is insufficient within the village of the proposed development to cater for the needs of first-time buyers. In terms of scale, First Homes Exception Sites should generally be no larger than a typical rural exception site of between 10 and 20 homes, bearing in mind that they are likely to be all one tenure and smaller homes. 

The introduction of a First Homes Exception Site component, with locally specific criteria to the policy, will ensure the policy is complementary to requirements already set out in national planning policy and will support schemes to be more tailored to local needs within Greater Cambridge. It is important that the policy encourages Rural Exception Sites and First Homes Exception Sites to work in tandem enabling schemes to come forward across all settlement sizes that address local needs but are also sympathetic to local constraints. One key difference between Rural Exception Sites and First Homes Exception Sites is that national planning policy allows Rural Exception Sites to be developed in the Green Belt under certain circumstances whereas First Homes Exception Sites are not permitted within the Green Belt. 

The primary focus of exception sites is to address identified need for affordable housing. Therefore, any market housing should be the minimum required to make a scheme viable and should be supported by a viability assessment which is transparent and complies with relevant national or local planning policy and guidance applicable at the time. Where a viability assessment has been submitted the Council will undertake an independent review of that appraisal for which the applicant will bear the cost. 

Exception sites work by granting planning permission on a site that would not otherwise be acceptable for residential development. As a result, the land should not attract residential land value. The Registered Provider therefore pays a price higher than the existing land use value (typically agricultural) but lower than residential value. The lower land value enables the Registered Housing Provider to build high quality homes than can be rented at a discounted level. 

Exception sites, by definition, tend to be on the edge of a settlement and can therefore be in sensitive locations. The impact of the proposed development on village character and the rural landscape will be key considerations in determining any planning application. Proposals to extend exception sites will be considered on their merits having regard to the overall scale of the site that would be created when combined with the original development and the cumulative visual impact. 

Given the shortfall in custom and self build plots in Greater Cambridge, it is considered reasonable to encourage this tenure where market housing is needed for viability reasons. 

Neighbourhood Plans may include exception site policies with more locally specific criteria to encourage developments to better integrate with and support local communities. This could include support for community-led housing development. 

This policy does not specifically relate to exception sites for community-led development, which are supported by national planning policy. There are no additional local requirements for these types of development beyond those set out in national planning policy. 

• Greater Cambridge Local Plan: Homes Topic Paper (2025)
• Greater Cambridge Housing Strategy 2024-2029: Homes for Our Future and Annexes 1-8
• Greater Cambridge - A First Homes Interim Position Statement (March 2022)

We will consider all comments while developing the next version of the Local Plan.

All comments must be received by 30 January 2026 at 5pm.