A couple of week’s ago I interviewed a man called Stuart Burgess who has the job of lobbying government to make sure that rural communities are considered when they are policy-making (the interview is also in today's Farmers Weekly).
One of the issues he was talking about was rural housing - suggesting that nearly every village could cope with a development of between 6 and 12 affordable homes.
I live in suburbia, so this doesn’t really apply to me. But if I think about the village in which I grew up (which probably has about 100 houses) then I like to think I wouldn’t object to the idea.
If six to 12 houses are what it needs to keep a community alive and developing, I think it is a price worth paying.
Comments (1)
I read with interest your interview with Stuart Burgess and agree with his comments about the need to loosen up planning regulations in order to increase the number of affordable homes in villages across England. Planning control is vital, especially in the Greenbelt, the AONB and conservation areas to preserve them from inappropriate development. These are, by definition, desirable and therefore more expensive places to live and if villages across England are not to become arid commuter belt dormitories where only the very wealthy can afford to live, we need to increase the stock of affordable houses for people with a connection to that locality.
The average price of a terrace house in the village in Oxfordshire where I live is £217,542. The average for England and Wales is £166,566. Typically a household can obtain a mortgage of three times their average income and would expect to need a deposit of at least 5% of the total price. I would be required to pay a deposit of nearly £11,000 and my annual income would have to be nearly £70,000. It is nowhere near that!
As a Rural Housing Enabler, I work with a number of Parish Councils who have reached a stale-mate situation because of the inflexibility of the planning authorities. However, this is not the only stumbling block; a number of other potential schemes have been sidelined because of the NIMBY attitude of residents (including, occasionally, members of the parish council).
Small developments (6 to 12 homes) built on a rural exception site (often not more than half an acre of green-field land) are for the benefit of people who have a local connection to that parish. Housing Associations typically pay from 33k per unit so providing Farmers and Landowners with a welcome cash injection for small pockets of land that would not normally be granted planning permission and, because of the proximity to the existing housing stock, are often difficult to cultivate.
It is constant battle to reassure residents that these new homes (built to higher building regulations than some open market developments and high eco-standards) will not become a dumping ground for trouble-makers from nearby tows and cities that no-one else wants. It is more than likely that occupants of a potential scheme will already be living in the village. By enabling them to remain in the village they already live in, they are able to continue to support village services (school, shop etc) and ensure that the community remains vibrant and sustainable.
People in housing need are not necessarily homeless, penniless and living a life of crime. There are thousands of young, and not so young, people who work full time (some in the agricultural industry and many in small rural businesses), own their own car, can afford occasional holidays but who are not able to purchase property in the area in which they wish to remain.
Rural Housing Enablers working for Rural Community Councils across the country work with Farmers and Landowners, Parish Councils, District (including planners) and County Councils and Housing Associations to build small developments of affordable homes that are in-keeping with the village setting for local people in perpetuity. For examples of existing and up-coming schemes in Oxfordshire please visit www.orhp.org.uk.
Comment left on February 19, 2007 12:44 PM
Posted on February 19, 2007 12:44