Whitecliffe's developer wants to stop paying off-site affordable housing and road money at Alkerden and Ashmere. Kent Highways has lodged a holding objection.

The developer of Whitecliffe, the former Eastern Quarry, has asked to stop paying two large sums it promised in 2018. One is for affordable homes built away from the site. The other is for road schemes around Ebbsfleet. It says the rest of the development cannot pay for them.

Kent County Council has lodged a holding objection to part of the request. Dartford Borough Council’s Cabinet is due to decide its own position on 10 December.

Whitecliffe sits between the A2, Bluewater and the villages of Greenhithe and Swanscombe, about four miles east of Dartford town centre. It has outline permission for up to 6,250 homes, built as three villages: Castle Hill, Alkerden and Ashmere.

What the developer is asking for

Eastern Quarry Ltd, a subsidiary of Henley Camland, applied to Ebbsfleet Development Corporation on 29 June. The corporation is the planning authority for Ebbsfleet. The request is to change the section 106 agreement signed on 28 March 2018, which sets out what the developer must pay or provide as the homes go up. (Ebbsfleet Development Corporation planning register, EDC/26/0101)

A summary of its viability case, written by Savills, sets out what it wants:

  • no further off-site affordable housing payments, beyond those already made
  • no further off-site transport payments, beyond those already made
  • future on-site transport payments capped at £5 million, including inflation
  • the next 190 plots that would trigger an “Affordable Housing Release Contribution” to be exempt from it
  • a build cost figure in the agreement raised from £1,500 to £2,260 a square metre

(Savills viability summary, June 2026)

If the developer pays any more of these sums before the agreement is changed, it wants more plots exempted in return. The summary gives the rate as one plot for every £21,582.83 paid. At that rate, the 190 exempt plots are worth about £4.1 million. That is our calculation from the summary’s own figure.

The developer also wants to change the retail terms. The 2018 agreement requires shops selling “comparison goods”, meaning things other than everyday groceries. The cover letter says shopping has moved online and that Bluewater is next door. It says the same amount of shop space would still be built, but for convenience goods. (Cover letter from CBRE for Eastern Quarry Ltd, 26 June 2026)

Why the developer says it cannot pay

The request covers Alkerden and Ashmere only. Castle Hill is “substantively completed” and was left out by agreement with the corporation.

The Savills summary blames:

  • rising interest rates
  • higher costs for building materials, which have hit the price housebuilders will pay for serviced plots
  • an estimated £30 million rise in the cost of finishing Alkerden School since 2018

Savills and JLL, the corporation’s own viability adviser, agreed a benchmark land value of £25.7 million. Savills puts the scheme’s value at £21.6 million even with the cuts. That leaves a deficit of £4,086,500. Savills says the scheme is “unviable in planning terms” even after the reductions.

The full viability report was submitted in confidence. Only the summary is public.

The cover letter says more than 2,000 homes have been completed and occupied at Castle Hill, Alkerden and Ashmere. It says the developer has paid more than £16 million in section 106 money so far. It also says much of the school, transport and community infrastructure has been built or is under way.

The road money

The off-site transport payment is capped at about £27.7 million, index-linked, according to Kent County Council. It was meant to repay the cost of road schemes in the area, including the A2 Bean and Ebbsfleet junctions. Those opened in June 2022. The corporation paid for them up front and recovers the money as homes are occupied. (Kent County Council Highways response, 29 July 2026)

The developer’s letter says the roads are built, so the payment “no longer serves its original useful purpose”.

Kent says about 2,500 homes are now occupied, so “a substantial proportion of the contribution remains outstanding”. Dropping it would not cost Kent directly, because the money goes to the corporation. Kent has asked for confirmation that no shortfall would pass to it.

Why Kent objected

The on-site Transport Fund pays for buses and traffic measures inside the development. It can reach £10 million under the 2018 agreement. The developer wants future payments capped at £5 million, with the fund run by the developer itself.

Kent placed a holding objection on that part. It says it has been given no figures on what has been spent, what is committed or why £5 million is enough. It wants a full account of the fund before it can say whether the cut is acceptable.

Kent also points to a contradiction. If the scheme is still unviable after the cuts, it asks, how will the remaining roads, buses and other infrastructure be paid for?

Kent did give the scheme some credit. It says:

  • Fastrack buses now run through the site
  • traffic flows are still below the limits agreed in the planning permission
  • car clubs and an on-demand bus service are already running

Where the affordable housing money goes

The headline share of affordable homes on site stays at 25%, according to Kent’s summary of the developer’s case. What changes is the money paid on top of that.

Dartford Borough Council’s forward plan of key decisions explains who loses out. The off-site affordable housing payments are collected by the corporation and “passed to the Council” as the housing authority. Dartford’s Cabinet will consider the request on 10 December, including what the cuts would mean for further homes at the development.

A second, smaller request

A separate request, EDC/26/0143, asks to change the lender clause on 43 affordable plots at Whitecliffe. The applicant’s letter says a housing association cannot take them on until the clause matches standard wording. It is the same kind of change we reported at Tiltman Avenue in Swanscombe in August. (EDC/26/0143)

What it means for you

  • If you live at Whitecliffe, the Transport Fund pays for the buses and traffic measures you rely on. Kent’s objection is about whether £5 million is enough to keep them.
  • If you are waiting for affordable housing in Dartford, the off-site payments were meant to fund homes elsewhere in the borough. Cabinet’s report on 10 December should say how much is at stake.
  • The register still shows the request as open for comments. The formal consultation closed on 6 August, and the corporation has agreed a decision date of 2 February 2027.

You can comment through the Ebbsfleet Development Corporation planning register, quoting EDC/26/0101.