Salford Lib Dems move to close affordable housing loopholes in new developments
Salford Liberal Democrats are bringing a motion to Full Council to tighten the rules around how developers can reduce affordable housing in new developments.
The motion, which will be moved in the chamber by Liberal Democrat councillor Paul Heilbron, targets the growing misuse of so-called viability assessments — financial arguments used by developers to claim they “can’t afford” to meet affordable housing requirements.
Under Salford’s Local Plan, new residential developments are expected to deliver a significant proportion of affordable housing, aimed at people on local incomes and meeting genuine local need. However, developers can currently argue that meeting this expectation would make a scheme financially unviable.
While viability assessments are meant to be used only in exceptional circumstances, they have increasingly become a routine negotiating tactic.
In many wards across the city, despite high levels of development, this has resulted in:
- Single-figure numbers of affordable homes, or
- No affordable homes at all, year after year
This is not because the need for affordable housing is low — but because affordability is being negotiated away behind closed doors.
The Liberal Democrat motion does not seek to block development or slow down housebuilding. Instead, it sets out a clearer and fairer framework to ensure that claims used to reduce affordable housing are properly tested, consistently applied, and transparent.
The motion would:
- Require developers to properly justify claims that affordable housing makes a scheme unviable, rather than treating such claims as routine
- Apply a clear and consistent method for assessing viability, so developers are not effectively setting the test and marking their own homework
- Require affordable housing contributions to be reviewed if a development becomes more profitable after planning permission is granted
- Increase transparency, including regular public reporting on how often affordable housing is reduced, by how much, and why
Speaking ahead of the debate, Councillor Paul Heilbron said:
“Residents are fed up with seeing developments approved with big promises on affordable housing, only for those promises to quietly shrink behind closed doors.
This motion is about fairness, transparency, and trust — trust that when this council says it expects affordable homes to be delivered, that expectation actually means something in real life, not just on paper.”
He added:
“This isn’t anti-development, and it isn’t about attacking officers. Viability assessments have a place, but they’re meant to be the exception, not the default.
If developers say they can’t afford affordable homes, they should have to prove it properly — and if they make more money later, Salford should get its fair share.”
The motion also calls for greater openness in decision-making, giving councillors and residents clearer information and confidence that planning decisions are fair, firm, and focused on local need.
Research by housing charity Shelter has shown that viability assessments are often based on optimistic assumptions and inflated land values, which significantly reduce affordable housing delivery. Other councils, including Cambridge, have adopted stricter and more transparent approaches without harming overall housebuilding rates.
The motion will be debated at Salford Full Council on 21 January 2026.
ENDS
- Viability assessments are financial appraisals used by developers to argue that planning policy requirements — such as affordable housing — make a scheme unviable
- Shelter England report: Slipping through the loophole: How viability assessments are reducing affordable housing supply in England
