‘AFFORDABLE’ apartments planned for Winchester have been criticised for being too small and unaffordable.

In May, an application to build two new blocks at Winnall Flats was approved by Winchester City Council’s planning committee.

They will offer 76 new homes, with 32 shared ownership properties in one five-storey block, split into 18 two-bedroom apartments and 14 one-bedroom units. In the second block, also five storeys, there will be 41 sub-market one-bedroom units to rent.

Leader of the council Lucille Thompson said that the scheme will fill a “gap in the market” and help younger people who find it difficult to access the market.

But during a meeting of the Cabinet, the scheme came under fire as an increase of £896,691 has been recommended for approval, with the plan now set to cost up to £18,840,000.

A report has unveiled that the one-bedroom flats will be around 40sqm, smaller than the council has usually develops.

Former election candidate for Labour Janet Berry said: “Young people and key workers have borne the brunt of the pandemic in several ways they deserve first-class housing, secure tenancies and genuinely affordable rents, not small flats with high rents and insecure tenancies, these flats only just comply with national space standards.”

She added: “The pandemic has highlighted the need for space inside and out, instead of overdeveloping sites the council could build housing for all ages on council land such as the Bar End Depot and central car parks.”

Ms Berry highlighted that the flats will not be affordable. She said that the average rent for council housing is £105.23 per week compared to private rent for a one-bedroom flat at £196 per week “yet over half the flats here are at over 90 per cent of market rent which...suggested it would £192.11 per week, over 80 per cent of market rent and cannot be classed as affordable”.

The scheme was also criticised by former Labour councillor Patrick Davies.

He said: “I genuinely do not understand why you have gone for flat development in an area which already has a very large number of flats and where there are already proposals for something like 100 student accommodation right next door that have yet to be provided, it seems to me it is contrary to the council’s long-term policy to have mixed development. To have flats and tiny flats that are barely legal limit on this site seems to be wrong.”

Concerns were raised by cabinet members about the allowed occupancy of some of the flats, as the council has argued that occupancy levels of the flats will be lower than Natural England’s average of 2.4 people which has reduced that sum that it has to pay towards nitrate neutrality regulations.

A condition will now be put on the tenancy agreement to prevent more than one person living in some of the flats, but Cllr Martin Tod questioned whether the council had signed up to something “slightly draconian”.

Head of new homes delivery Martin Palmer said: “We’ve had to take a view about the occupancy levels of those flats in order to meet the nitrate regulations.”

The recommendation to increase the budget went go before full council on Wednesday, after the Chronicle went to print.