East Ayrshire Local Development Plan Supplementary Guidance

The purpose of this Supplementary Guidance is to provide detail on how the Council will implement its LDP affordable housing policy.

In line with the Scottish Government’s Planning Advice Note 2/2010 Affordable Housing and Housing Land Audits, the Council intends that the affordable housing policy will be implemented in a flexible manner taking full account of wider financial and market conditions.

Whilst East Ayrshire has lower than national average house prices, it also has lower than average income levels and a significant proportion of households cannot access housing at an affordable level, particularly in the more pressured areas in the northern part of the local authority area.

The Council’s Housing Needs and Demand Assessment (HNDA), given robust and credible status by the Scottish Government in 2012, concluded that the annual shortfall of affordable housing arising in East Ayrshire ranges from 234 to 424 units with the bulk of this requirement (80%) being within the Kilmarnock and Loudoun sub housing market area.

A further 5% of this is required in the Cammock sub housing market area with the remaining 15% needed in the Doon Valley.