A top premier league boss has increased his offer and subsequently paid his way out of having to build 91 planned affordable homes.
Spurs manager, Harry Redknapp, who owns Pierfront Developments, upped his offer by £200,000 and paid £600,000 to evade building the affordable homes on the Southsea seafront, Portsmouth.co.uk are reporting.
He claimed he couldn’t afford to sell off the homes as affordable properties.
The former Portsmouth manager had already acquired permission to build the flats but was told he must adhere to the council’s affordable housing policy, which says a third of all new homes built must be made available at a low cost.
However, Portsmouth City Council has told Mr Redknapp he can develop the Savoy Buildings site without affordable housing now he has paid them £600,000 to build other affordable housing elsewhere in the city.
Portsmouth.co.uk report that Cllr Lee Hunt, who chaired the meeting said: “We have a contract with the people of Portsmouth and it’s vital that we provide them with places they can live, but this is an important seafront building and people in the city want to see something done with it quickly.
“It’s a difficult balance but we are already in a better position than Pierfront Developments’ last offer and I suggest that we should accept what is on the table today.”
The policy also states that firms can avoid the obligation if they can show they will make no more than a 23 per cent profit.
Representatives of Redknapp argued that a combination of the economic crisis and the expense of the development should mean Pierfront can build without providing affordable homes.
The planning committee voted to accept the proposals, meaning Mr Redknapp’s development can go ahead.
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