CONSULTANTS are independently assessing a move by administrators of a bankrupt housebuilder to drop affordable homes from a half-built West Somerset housing estate because the development would otherwise become unviable.

Savills has asked Somerset Council to waive 25 affordable units on the Exmoor Gate site off Hopcott Road, Minehead.

It also wants to write-off £355,000 for community facilities in the area.

The 71-home estate was left part-built after Stratton Land went into administration last year with £36 million debts.

The site had been sold to Bridgwater Homes (Hopcott) Ltd shortly before administrators were appointed, and it also went bust soon after.

Savills wants the council to scrap legal requirements for affordable housing and a community facilities contribution to allow administrators to maximise the amount of money they can recover for creditors.

Now, the council has hired DJC Housing Consultants Ltd, of Sittingbourne, Kent, at a cost of £4,350 to look at the truth of the claim by Savills that the estate would not otherwise be viable for a developer to finish.

The consultants will examine the background to the site, its infrastructure requirements, and the Savills approach to viability and its proposed appraisal inputs and methodology.

They will independently review the Savills viability submission to assess the soundness of the firm’s inputs and the assumptions contained within it.

The review will consider if the inputs are acceptable and valid, including the benchmark value, and, if not, provide supporting evidence to explain why, including relevant costs.

The council also wants the consultants to advise on any further sensitivity appraisals and engagement which might be needed and to provide a commentary on its findings.

The attempt to drop the affordable homes element of the estate has sparked fury in Minehead with local councillors questioning why an estimated net profit of £2 million would not be enough for a developer.