A DETAILED
INVESTIGATION INTO
THE LOCAL HOUSING
NEEDS OF
HOTON
Produced by
The Leicestershire Rural Housing Enabler
In conjunction with
Hoton Parish Council
March 2006
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Contents
 Introduction
 Purpose of the Survey
 House Prices
 Survey Results
Household Respondents
Tenure of all Residents
Property Types
Period of Residence
Desirability
Ethnicity
Percentage in Favour of
Comments
 Housing Needs Analysis
 Conclusion
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Introduction
The Leicestershire Rural Housing Enabler works with Parish
Councils and Local Authorities in order to investigate the
needs for affordable homes in villages. The first step in this
process is to undertake housing need survey which will give an
overview of the current housing situation in a village, and
provide detail of the need for local affordable homes.
Hoton Parish Council has recognised that local people may have
had to leave the village to find accommodation suitable for
their needs. This has resulted from increasing house prices
and a lack of affordable housing in the locality.
During March of 2006, the Leicestershire Rural Housing
Enabler and Hoton Parish Council worked together to deliver a
Housing Needs Survey to every household in the village.
Market Overton currently has a population of 348 (2001
Census) and 146 survey forms were produced for distribution
throughout the parish. We are very grateful to George Smith
for holding additional forms and freepost envelopes.
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Purpose of the Survey
The survey was conducted in order to obtain clear evidence of
the housing need in the parish of Hoton. This evidence can
then be used to inform Charnwood Borough Council and provide
clarity on what type and tenure of housing is required to meet
local needs.
One option of meeting a village’s housing need is through the
construction of a purpose built affordable housing development
using the exception criteria set out in Planning Policy Guidance
Note 3 (PPG3). However, to do this there must be accurate
details housing need within the parish. The survey undertaken
is an accurate and accepted method of achieving this.
The information can be used positively in the planning process
in that it provides a foundation on which to negotiate planning
gain opportunities with developers. In short, it gives planners
evidence which can be used to obtain an element of local needs
housing in negotiations with house builders should such
properties arise in the village.
The information obtained from such a survey is also valuable at
the local level, particularly in relation to the Parish Council’s
activities. Such information can be acted upon locally and
taken on board in the decision making process when housing
issues arrive.
If anything is to be done about the local needs of the village,
support at local level is vital before anything can be done to
address it.
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House Prices
The Government objective to deliver a better balance between
housing demand and supply is not being met in rural England,
there would seem to be an increasingly imbalance in supply and
demand for rural housing, in particular within smaller rural
settlements in both sparse and less sparse areas. As a
consequence, affordability is a very real issue in many parts of
rural England. In the most extreme case, the hamlets and
isolated dwellings in the less sparse area, average house prices
are around ten times the local average income.
East Midlands
Average Detached
Average Semi
Average Terrace
Average Flat/Maisonette
Average Price
2005
£
222,241
129,196
107,016
112,833
149,466
2004
£
197,144
113,679
92,713
103,998
132,862
2003
£
174,346
95,365
76,244
46,008
112,712
Source Land Registry 2005
The table above provides details of the house prices over the
last three years. The average price of a house has risen from
£112,712 to £149,466, which is an increase of 25% over the
last three years. For a family to be able to purchase an
average terrace house they would need to be earning in the
region of £26,000 per annum to secure a mortgage.
These average prices are not representative of Hoton which
are much higher. Few smaller properties are available in the
area.
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Survey Results
The following sections of this report detail the responses from
the questionnaires distributed and returned during March 2006
in Hoton parish.
Respondents individual details have been kept confidential and
any identifiable attributes have not been included in the results.
Any comments that have been made may have also been edited so
as not to identify individual circumstances.
The following results are a snapshot in time and provide the
parish and Charnwood Borough Council with an insight into the
parish in terms of current housing need, the desirability of the
village and the current level of facilities serving the local
community.
A total of 48 survey forms were received giving a return rate of
about 33%. This is a good response when considering that only
people who have a housing need or who are interested in
commenting on local matters are asked to respond.
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Household Respondents
There was a real mix in terms of household sizes. As can be seen
from the chart below, households with 2 adults gave the highest
response rate accounting for 26%, followed by families with 1-2
children with 17%. Two pensioner households followed with 15%
and the lowest response came from 2+ adults and 1 adult & 2
pensioner households who equally had 2% of the responses.
Single Pensioner
2 Pensioners
Single Adult
2 Adults
17%
4%
9%
2+ Adults
15%
2%
1 Adult & 1 Pensioner
2+ Adults & 1 Pensioner
1 Adult & 2+ Pensioners
7%
7%
11%
2%
Families w ith 1-2 Children
Not Given\Spoilt
26%
The Countryside Agency Report “State of the Countryside 2005”
found that the rural populations have distinctive characteristics
relevant to the improvement of quality of life for individuals. It
is also found that there are lower proportions of young people and
higher proportions of older people. The results from this survey
agree with that observation.
The report also found that there are lower levels of couples
within rural areas, both with and without children. The results
from this survey appear to agree with that observation.
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Tenure of all Respondents
The current household tenure of all respondents is given in the
table below. It is easy to see that owner/occupiers were by far
the largest tenure group accounting for 90%, of which 42% had a
mortgage.
Tied Accommodation
Private Renting
4%
4% 2%
Ow n/occ No Mortgage
Ow n/occ Mortgage
42%
48%
Not Given/Spoilt
The responses from the survey indicate an agreement with the
findings of the State of the Countryside Report 2005, that was
mentioned earlier concluding that the largest home occupiers
were those who owned their property either outright, with a
mortgage or through shared ownership.
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Property Types
The following chart details the types of properties in which
respondents currently reside. From this chart we can conclude
that there are a variety of properties within the village. It
should be noted that, of those responding to the survey by
providing an answer, the largest groups were occupants of 4 bed
houses (37%) followed by 3 bed houses with 33%.
2 Bed House
3 Bed House
7%
4%
4%
4 Bed House
4%
4%
7%
33%
5 Bed House
2 Bed Bungalow
3 Bed Bungalow
4 Bed Bungalow
37%
Not Given
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Desirability
The following two charts detail respondents’ answers to the
desirability questions. The answers to these questions allow us to
build up a picture of life within Hoton. From this we can gain an
indication of whether any affordable housing that is subsequently
provided in the village will be sustainable i.e. a place where people
would want to live both now and in the future.
45
40
35
Yes
30
No
Don't Know
25
Not Given
20
15
10
5
0
Good
Reputation
Nice Place to
Live
Balanced and Friendly Spirit
Varied Pop
From this first chart (above) we know that the vast majority of
residents consider that Hoton has a good reputation, is a nice
place to live with a friendly community atmosphere/spirit.
40
35
Yes
30
No
25
Don't Know
20
Not Given
15
10
5
0
Crim e
Anti Social
Lack of
Adequate
Hous ing
Lack of
Facilities
The second chart (above) shows that respondents didn’t know if
there is any crime and antisocial behaviour within the village. It
has shown that a majority of the respondents didn’t know
whether there is a lack of facilities within the village.
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Migration
The survey also asked whether respondents knew of people who
had had to leave the village because of lack of suitable
accommodation.
This chart (below) shows that there does not appear to have been
a high number of local people who have been forced to move out
of the village in order to secure suitable housing. However, it
should be remembered that this is only an indicative sample and
that people who have moved away may not have divulged their
reasons for doing so.
4%
6%
Yes
No
Not Given
90%
Ethnicity
Respondents’ results showed that the majority of the
demographic preferred not to say. This does support the recent
Countryside Agency Report which found that rural settlements
had lower levels of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) residents
than that of urban cores and that there were only 136,000 BME
residents in rural areas throughout the country.
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Percentage in Favour of Small Development
4%
21%
44%
Yes
No
Don't Know
Not Given
31%
The chart above shows that 44% of respondents were in favour
of a small development of affordable housing in Hoton. This could
be expressed as 59% of those respondents that expressed a
preference were in favour.
Comments
Below are some of the comments made by respondents about the
village.
 The village needs a public house
 More mobile services as village is too small to support
shops etc
 Affordable housing for youngsters and suitable housing
for elderly
 The village needs a post office and a general shop
 Small properties are too expensive for even the average
wage earner
 Smaller affordable houses to encourage younger
community
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 Not enough affordable housing for first time buyers
Housing Need Analysis
Out of the 48 returns, 42 were from people who felt that they
were adequately housed and would not be looking to move to
alternative accommodation within the next 5 years. These
respondents completed a form primarily to offer their
support/objection towards a local needs housing development as
well as give their comments regarding the desirability of Hoton.
These were therefore discounted from the rest of the analysis.
Accordingly, as far as the requirement for affordable housing is
concerned, there are 6 returns detailing a housing need.
However, some respondents would potentially have the resources
to satisfy their own need and may need to be discounted from the
final analysis.
The following table lists the respondents who have expressed a
housing need, the timescale in which they require housing, what
type of housing they will require and finally an assessment of
their need.
Please note.
REALITY TENURE refers to what the respondent could afford
considering their declared savings and income.
1/2 Bed units are for single occupancy depending on the Local
Authority lettings policies.
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Single People
RESPONDANT
Single adult with 19 years
residency, living away in
private rented wishes to
return to be near support
network (1)
Single adult with 19 years
residency in private
rented wants to return to
be near support network
(3)
Single adult with 21 years
residency, living with
parents, seeks
independence near
support network (21)
Single adult with 5 years
residency seeks
independent
accommodation (39)
WHAT REQUIRED
1/2 Bed Unit – Rented or
Shared Ownership
REALITY TENURE
1/2 Bed Unit – Rented
1/2 Bed Unit – Rented or
Shared Ownership
1/2 Bed unit – Rented
2 Bed House – Rented or
Shared Ownership
1/2 Bed unit – Rented
2 Bed House – Rented or
Shared Ownership
1/2 Bed unit – Rented
RESPONDANT
Couple with 21 years
residency living with
parents seeks
independence (11)
WHAT REQUIRED
2 Bed House – Rented or
Shared Ownership
REALITY TENURE
1/2 Bed Unit – Rented
Couple with 15 years
residency seek to be
nearer work and aged
relatives (48)
2 Bed House – Shared
Ownership
2 Bed House– Shared
Ownership
Couples
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Conclusion
The Leicestershire Rural Housing Enabler, in partnership with
Hoton Parish Council has conducted a detailed study of the
housing need of the village. This study has not only investigated
the actual housing need of Hoton but has also ascertained
residents’ views with regard to living in the village, as well as
identifying local support for a development to meet local needs.
Although there may be a small need for affordable housing in the
next 3-5 years, we have concentrated on the requirement for
housing in the immediate future and the next 1-3 years. In this
respect, there is a need for both rented and shared ownership
homes. It should be noted that single bedroom accommodation is
not recommended as this is not thought to be sustainable. This
would be defined in a Section 106 Agreement.
The exact need is emerging as follows;
RENT
5 x 1/2 Bed Unit
SHARED OWNERSHIP
1 x 2 Bed House
However, as with any other detailed survey; we would apply the
standard discounting factor used by the Countryside Agency in
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their survey reports. This is to take into account that, during the
time it would take to develop a scheme, some respondents will
have to satisfy their own housing needs. Also the developing
Housing Association would not build speculatively. For this reason
we would normally apply a 25% discount to the rented
requirement and a 40% discount for shared ownership. Low
numbers of shared ownership properties are not usually
discounted.
The suggested housing mix, on this basis, would be:RENT
4 x 1/2 Bed Units
SHARED OWNERSHIP
1 x 2 Bed House
The recommendation is that single mixed development of up to 5
affordable dwellings should be considered, as detailed above.
This development will alleviate the current housing need for
those who cannot afford to secure a suitable property in Hoton,
but who wishes to stay in or return to the village.
The findings from this survey found that 44% of respondents
were in favour of a development of affordable housing in Hoton
as long as it was for local people with a strong connection. This
report has identified that there is a need for affordable housing
for existing residents.
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Contacts
The Leicestershire & Rutland Rural Housing Enabler
Richard Windley
Unit 19 Whitwick Business Centre
Stenson Road
Coalville
Leics
LE67 4JP
Tel: 01530 276546
Richard.windley@midlandsrh.org.uk
Hoton Parish Council Clerk
George Smith
11, Vinetree Terrace
Hotoh
Loughborough
LE12 5SL
Tel: 01509 880742
geos@vinetree.wanadoo.co.uk
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