From: Dave Kenyon
Sent:
To:
Debbie Holloway
Cc:
Planning Admin
Subject: RE: Rowes farm..ref 52/0008/11/F
Thanks for your e.mail, the contents of which are duly noted and will be incorporated into the Officer report.
From: Debbie Holloway
Sent: 23 February 2011 15:14
To: Dave Kenyon
Subject: RE: Rowes farm
Dave
Please see below the supporting statement for Rowe's Farm, Stoke Gabriel from the Affordable Housing Team.
Supporting Statement for Rowe's Farm, Stoke Gabriel
The provision of affordable housing is the number one priority in the South Hams and in Totnes and it's rural hinterland in particular, due to the
high level of need.
At present there are only 20 units of affordable housing in the village, 11 of which are for older people. There has been no new affordable housing
built in Stoke Gabriel for more than 30 years and many of the family homes have been lost through Right to Buy legislation.
Stoke Gabriel benefits from a range of facilties such as a primary school, Post Office and shops etc. and is therefore considered a sustainable
village for the purposes of affordable housing provision.
Affordable Housing DPD/SPD policies
There is a target of 60% affordable housing on allocated sites within the rural areas of the South Hams. This target is subject to the availability of
grant and the viability of the scheme.
The number of affordable housing dwellings proposed on the Rowe's Farm scheme is 14 rented units and 7 shared ownership dwellings
(50%) subject to the availability of grant. If grant is not available then 10 rented and 5 shared ownership (35%) will be delivered.
The Affordable Housing Team are extremely supportive of this scheme which would bring forward much needed new affordable homes.
Needs Evidence
David Couttie Associates undertook a Housing Market & Needs Assessment of the district in 2006, the results of which assessed a net shortfall of
606 affordable homes per year to keep up with need. The 2007/08 update showed this shortfall had grown to 660 affordable homes needed per
year.
Also within this report Totnes and the rural hinterland were identified as having the most significant affordable housing need in the district,
totalling almost half of all the identified need.
Stoke Gabriel Parish Council approached South Hams District Council and the Rural Housing Enabler approximatley 4 years ago to determine the
level of affordable housing need in the village with a view to pursuing the possibility of an exception site. The Housing Needs Survey showed that
29 households are in need of affordable housing in the village.
Currently there are 274 households on the Devon Home Choice register who idicated a preference to live in Stoke Gabriel . Of these 7
households currently live in the village. Unfortunately the system
does not enable us to break the information down further to identify the
number of households who have a local connection to Stoke Gabriel but do not currently live in the village.
Allocations
The Council has recently adopted a Local Allocations Policy which sits alongside Devon Home Choice. This policy has allowed the Council to
respond to local priorities and sets aside 50% of rented dwellings on all new schemes for households who are in housing need and have a
connection to the town or village.
A household has a connection with the Parish in any of the following circumstances:(i)
(ii)
resident for 6 out of the last twelve months or 3 out of the last five years where this has been out of choice
family connection of such person in the parish ( immediate family
who have lived in parish for 5 years)
(iii) any periods of ordinary residence of the person in the parish and
(iv)
whether the person has permanent employment in the parish
A household considered to be in housing need will have been placed in Devon Home Choice bands A, B, C or D.
It should also be noted that local households may also be allocated the remaining 50% affordable housing.
In terms of the intermediate housing the Council the list is held by the HomeBuy agent for the region Southwest Homes. Tor Homes as the
landlord will wherever possible prioritise those applicants who have a local connection and the financial ability to purchase a share in a property.
Not sure if this is enough or too much! Let me know if you need more.
Debbie
From: Dave Kenyon
Sent: 23 February 2011 12:19
To: Debbie Holloway
Cc: Cassandra Harrison
Subject: Rowes farm
Debbie...I know you've provided info to Cllr Rowe and for me to pass onto the PC but I dont think I've actually received formal consultation
comments from you, whci I need urgently to cut and paste into my report today.
For ease, I set out below your previous comments which were in the officer report which you may want to alter/amend as part of your formal
response to this application.
I suppose one difference is this is now an allocated site (AH2) requiring a 60% target which will need to be referred to in your response.
Local Affordable Housing Need
Comments have been sought from the Council’s Affordable Housing Team and these are set out below.
The provision of affordable housing is the number one priority in the South Hams and in Totnes and its rural hinterland in
particular, due to the high level of need. At present there are only 20 units of affordable housing in the village of Stoke
Gabriel, 11 of which are for older people. There has been no new affordable housing built in Stoke Gabriel for more than
30 years and many of the family homes have been lost through Right to Buy legislation.
Stoke Gabriel benefits from a range of facilities such as a primary school, Post Office and shops etc. and is therefore
considered a sustainable village for the purposes of affordable housing provision.
The Affordable Housing Team are extremely supportive of this scheme which would bring forward 25 much needed new
affordable homes.
Needs Evidence
David Couttie Associates undertook a Housing Market & Needs Assessment of the district in 2006, the results of which
assessed a net shortfall of 606 affordable homes per year to keep up with need. The 2007/08 update showed this shortfall
had grown to 660 affordable homes needed per year. Also within this report Totnes and the rural hinterland were
identified as having the most significant affordable housing need in the district, totalling almost half of all the identified
need.
The Council’s Housing Waiting List also currently identifies 144 households who have expressed a preference to live in
Stoke Gabriel.
Stoke Gabriel Parish Council approached South Hams District Council and the Rural Housing Enabler over 3 years ago to
determine the level of affordable housing need in the village with a view to pursuing the possibility of an exception site.
The Housing Needs Survey showed that 29 households are in need of affordable housing in the village. Unfortunately a
suitable exception site has not been identified to help meet the local needs.
Allocations
As this is not an exception site development proposal, any affordable houses developed on this site will help to meet
wider housing needs in accordance with the 1996 Housing Act (amended) which states (amongst other criteria) a local
authority has a duty to house people who fall into the reasonable preference categories ( part VI S167 (2)).
The following are extracts below from the Housing Act Code of Guidance
.
The Code of Guidance ( 2002) (para.5.9 (d) and Annex 3) sets out a series of indicators of the criteria in the reasonable
preference categories, but stresses that: " ... there is no requirement to give equal weight to each of these categories but
housing authorities will need to be able to demonstrate that, overall, reasonable preference for allocations has been given
to applicants in all the reasonable preference categories".
5.25 While housing authorities will need to ensure that, overall, reasonable preference for allocations is given to
applicants in the relevant categories in s 167(2), these should not be regarded as exclusive. A scheme should be flexible
enough to incorporate other considerations. For example, housing authorities may wish to give sympathetic consideration
to the housing needs of extended families. However, housing authorities must not allow their own secondary criteria to
dominate schemes at the expense of the statutory preference categories.
This duty means that SHDC cannot seek to tie down all affordable housing for those who have a local connection.
However in some towns/villages like Stoke Gabriel where house prices are particularly high and there has been little new
build affordable housing, SHDC has decided to give some priority to local people as well. The Council’s approach, where
appropriate, is to consider setting aside one third of the affordable rented dwellings to be allocated in a way which places
local connection above priority housing need (this approach was taken on a similar scheme in Salcombe).
It should also be stated that the remaining 12 rented homes may also be allocated to households with a local connection
to Stoke Gabriel who are in priority housing need.
In terms of the intermediate housing the Council does not hold the waiting list for shared ownership applicants. This list is
held by the HomeBuy agent for the region Southwest Homes. However the landlord housing association will wherever
possible to prioritise those applicants who have a local connection and the financial ability to purchase a share.
A number of questions have been raised by third parties regarding applicants who are currently on the Council's Housing
Waiting List, the type and size of accommodation they need and whether they will be allocated a dwelling on this
proposed development. These questions were answered to the best of the Affordable Housing Team’s knowledge at the
time they were asked. However applicants position on the Waiting List changes as other applicants come onto or leave
the list or if applicants circumstances change. Therefore answers to these questions will only be the position at that point
in time.
Affordable Housing DPD/SPD policies
AH3: Unallocated sites and AH4: Mix, Size, Type and Tenure
In terms of achieving a balanced housing market the decision to provide most of the affordable dwellings in phase 1 is to
due to high housing need and current market conditions.
25 of the 50 homes will be affordable - 18 rented dwellings (11 x 2 beds, 6 x 3 beds, 1x 4 beds) and 7 intermediate
dwellings (5 x 2 beds, 2 x 3 beds).
Supplementary Planning Document
The proposed affordable housing meets the Management & Standards (page 24) and the Design & Standards approach
set out in this document (page 26).