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November 2007 Local residents struggling to meet open market rents or buy a property in Groby are a step nearer to finding an affordable home in the village. This follows the decision taken by the Parish Council to accept the findings of the report on housing needs prepared in 2006 by Richard Windley, the Leicestershire and Rutland Rural Housing Enabler. Richard has already delivered several similar developments in other Leicestershire parishes.
Purpose of the survey
The purpose of the survey was to identify the need for affordable housing in Groby and to establish just what type and tenure of housing would be appropriate. Richard’s report concluded that Groby needs to find a site to build a new development of up to 24 affordable homes to help residents who cannot afford accommodation locally to stay in the village, or those with a strong local connection to return. Many are currently having to share homes with their family or friends.
If suitable land and funding can be put in place the recommended development would be mainly of 2 bedroom units for rent, with a few available on a shared ownership basis. Such a development would help meet the need for affordable housing for the next couple of years at a time when house prices locally climb out of reach of many home buyers.
No committment
Members were told that to accept the report is only to accept its findings and were assured that the Council was not committing itself to supporting any specific scheme. The decision is a significant milestone in the process for Richard who is an enthusiastic and energetic advocate of affordable housing. Without it he cannot start the search for suitable sites or funding. He can now progress this scheme, liaising closely with the Parish Council at each stage, ensuring it was always in the best interest of parishioners.
The right to object
If as a last resort he had no option other than to put forward a contentious site the Council would have the right to object to the planning application in the same way they could for any other housing development. “In any event if the residents of Groby were set against a particular site I don’t think the Housing Corporation would support it with social housing grant ,” said Richard. This would stop any scheme as,without grant no project could be made viable. The Chairman told members that the decision gives the opportunity for builders to be aware that affordable housing is needed in Groby and that the Council supports the principle of rural exception sites.
First published in the Groby Spotlight in November 2007
What is affordable housing?
Broadly speaking affordable housing is non-market housing provided to those whose needs are not met by the market. It can include both social rented and shared equity housing. The recommendation is that 21 of the homes on the proposed Groby development will be rented with 3 on a shared ownership basis.
Affordability has been defined with regard to the availability of housing for purchase at no more than 3.5 to 4 times rural earnings. Groby has grown from a village of less than 2,000 in 1951 to a population of around 7,000, but still falls within the definition of a rural area as it has less than 10,000 residents.
Affordable Rural Housing Commission
Growing concern about the shortage of affordable housing for rural communities led to the setting up of the Affordable Rural Housing Commission(ARHC) in 2005. The ARHC concluded there was a need to significantly increase both social rented housing and low cost home ownership in rural areas and estimated that these areas needed 11,000 new affordable homes a year.
Right to Buy policy
The Commission found that in the 25 years after 1980 around a third of the local authority housing stock in urban, rural and mixed areas was lost to the private house market because of the Right to Buy policy. In addition the report said that average house prices have risen faster in rural areas and first time buyer homes are 12% higher than in urban areas. Press reports on figures issued by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors recently show that property prices have risen three times faster than salaries in the last 10 years and poorer families now have to save almost a year’s salary to have enough for a deposit and stamp duty.