What is Affordable Housing ?
Rural Affordable Housing is housing provided in rural parishes for people on lower incomes who are unable to meet their housing needs in the general housing market.
- Affordable rented housing is usually owned by a Housing Association and rented at a weekly rent that is affordable to people on low incomes.
- Shared ownership homes are partly purchased by the resident and partly owned by the Housing Association. The resident will pay rent on the part owned by the Housing Association. Housing Associations are able to provide the housing at affordable levels as they usually receive grant funding from the Homes and Communities Agency towards the development costs.
What are the benefits of Affordable Housing ?
An Affordable Housing scheme can make a huge contribution to the parish. It not only meets the housing needs of local people, but it can help maintain the viability of services and amenities in the parish, such as the local school, a village shop and post office. It may also help maintain the social balance and social networks within the parish.
How can the Parish Council help with Affordable Housing in the parish ?
The first step towards the creation of Affordable Housing is to contact a Rural Housing Enabler from Warwickshire Rural Community Council. We are an independent organisation which acts on behalf of rural communities to facilitate rural Affordable Housing schemes.
Who are the Rural Housing Enablers ?
The Rural Housing Enablers are employed by Warwickshire Rural Community Council. Their role is to encourage Parish Councils and local communities to help identify housing need and engage with the process of developing Affordable Housing in their parish and then to support and assist the Parish Council and local community throughout the process. A major part of the role is to liaise with all the parties involved in the process.
Who are the Housing Associations ?
There are several Housing Associations operating in Warwickshire with strong experience of working with rural communities to deliver Affordable Housing. Details of these Associations can be seen in the ‘Links’ sub folder under the ‘Housing’ section of this website.
How does shared ownership work ?
If the Housing Needs Survey shows that there is demand, then shared ownership homes may be provided. Shared ownership housing requires the purchaser to obtain a mortgage and requires a minimum income level. All shared ownership units will be retained for local people as they will only be allowed to buy up to 80% share of the property.
What is a Section 106 Agreement ?
A Section 106 Agreement is a list of planning conditions that must be fulfilled by a company wishing to build a scheme anywhere. For rural schemes, for example, the Section 106 Agreement will include clauses referring to keeping the houses for local people, and keeping them affordable in perpetuity.
Where would the Affordable Housing be located ?
Much of the Affordable Housing developed in rural parishes is located on Exception Sites. These are sites beyond the settlement boundary of the village or within villages with no settlement boundary. Residential development is permitted on such sites as an exception to planning policy. The housing must be Affordable Housing for local people and remain so in perpetuity. The site itself must meet the criteria set out by the planning authority. Usually, all potential sites around the settlement will be considered in order to find the best site.
Is there a minimum size of Affordable Housing scheme that can be built ?
An Affordable Housing scheme needs to be affordable to the occupiers, therefore the build costs must be reasonable. This can usually only be achieved through the economies of scale of at least three homes being built at one time. It may be possible to have a larger scheme split between two sites but the viability of this will depend on the nature of the sites and any required infrastructure works.
How much will be paid for the land ?
Exceptions Sites have a unique land value that is between agricultural values and ‘hope’ value. The price agreed for the land is important to ensure that the housing to be provided is affordable. One of our aims is to have a consistent approach to Exception Site land values, to ensure that rural housing schemes are viable and affordable. This will generally be in the region of £8,000 to £10,000 per plot dependant upon the site constraints.
How long before the homes are built ?
There are many stages in developing an Affordable Housing scheme, and we have written a 10 point guide that helps explain the process. Rural housing schemes are traditionally difficult to develop, but each site is different so a number of factors can influence the timescales, including the number of plots available, how much work is required on the roads, whether the planners are in favour of the site, the funding and how much opposition there is to the site in the parish. One of our aims is to try to make this process more efficient through best practice, and thus speed up the delivery of the Affordable Housing.
How much and what type of Affordable Housing will be built ?
The Housing Needs Survey will indicate the amount and type of Affordable Housing that is required in each parish. By asking local people for details of their income and housing preference, a proposal can be drawn up for each parish on the amount of affordable rented housing and shared ownership housing that is required to meet local needs.
What standard will the new homes be built to ?
Housing Association homes are built to a very high standard and have to be in keeping with the look of the parish. They are carefully designed so that they fit in with the homes nearby. You can see examples of Affordable Housing schemes in Warwickshire elsewhere in this website.
Who will be allocated the new homes ?
The homes will be allocated through the local Borough / District Council. They will decide who is in the greatest need out of those who have a local connection.
Will the Parish Council or landowner have a say in who the houses will go to ?
It is important that the Parish Council understands the process to advise local people but it is not appropriate for the Parish Council to be involved in the detail of the selection process as this would compromise both their position and the confidentiality of applicants’ details. Verification of an applicant's local connection will be undertaken by the Housing Association. The Parish Council will be sent a list of the local connections of the selected applicants, but not the applicant's details due to Data Protection requirements.
Unless the landowner has a specific reason otherwise, the land will be sold freehold to the Housing Association and they will have no right to nomination. If the land is adjacent to land that the landowner is retaining, then the Housing Association will often liaise with them on the design and layout of schemes.
How can we be sure they will go to local people ?
It is outlined in the Section 106 Agreement that any Affordable Housing development must be kept for local people and this is legally binding to the Housing Association and to the local authority. People will have to qualify as being local to be nominated for a property, and if no one can be found from the main parish, each local authority will have its own arrangements, usually people from neighbouring parishes.
How will the homes remain for local people in the future ?
The Section 106 Agreement ensures that all future lettings or shared ownership sales have to meet the same local connection criteria as when the homes were first built.
What is meant by local people ?
The local connection criteria will be laid out in the Section 106 Agreement.
Each local authority will have its own definition of local people and may include some of the following :
• ordinarily resident in the parish
• previously ordinarily resident in the parish
• a need to live in the parish by reason of current employment or a need to move to take up permanent employment
• a need to reside in the parish either to support or to be supported by another member of their family who ordinarily resides the parish
A local authority may also require that people have currently or previously been resident in the parish for a certain period of time.
How is it you are being allowed to build on greenfield sites ?
There are planning regulations in place to allow greenfield development under certain circumstances, and providing the following criteria are in place:
• the Parish Council supports the development
• it will be kept affordable for local people
• it is supported by a recent Housing Needs Survey
Even if these criteria are in place, the planning application will be subject to approval from the planners in a number of other ways, including highways, services (water, electric, gas), ecology, archaeology and impact on open countryside.
Will this development lead to more housing being built in the village ?
Due to the development being an Exception Site, it will not set any precedent for building outside of the development boundary. Should the Parish Council obtain a scheme which does not fully provide the level of housing needed in the village, they can apply for another scheme, but will have to repeat the process (perhaps including a new Housing Needs Survey) from the beginning.
Will this development create traffic congestion ?
As Affordable Housing is for local people, the new homes are usually occupied by people who already live in the parish. There is usually little increase in traffic as most of these people already use their vehicles in the parish.
Will the parish have to fund the scheme ?
The parish will not be required to make a financial contribution to the scheme, although some choose to donate land or sell it at a reduced rate.
Why is grant funding required ?
In order to provide affordable rented housing, funding from the Homes and Communities Agency is usually necessary. Only certain Housing Associations meet the Homes and Communities Agency's criteria to obtain grant for Affordable Housing development.
Why are Housing Needs Surveys required when there is already a Borough / District Council Housing Register ?
Many people who live in rural areas believe that Affordable Housing will never be built in rural areas so do not join the Housing Register. If the need was solely judged by the Register, it would undervalue the number of people in housing need, and schemes would be underprovided. Housing Needs Surveys almost always turn up people who are in need, but have not joined the Register. A Housing Needs Survey can also help in consulting with the parish community and may help in land coming forward.
What is involved in undertaking a Housing Needs Survey ?
The Rural Housing Enablers work with Parish Councils to undertake a survey of the whole parish to establish the unique needs of each rural community. A standard questionnaire is used in order to ensure the robust validity of the results. This is important for both obtaining the planning consent and the funding for rural schemes.
The questionnaire will be sent to every household in the parish, and be available to local people who have had to move away to find an affordable home, but want to return. The survey can be used as a register, encouraging people to give their names and contact details. They can then be sent an application for the Borough / District Housing Register to apply for Affordable Housing.
How will Housing Associations deal with any anti-social behaviour in the houses ?
All Housing Associations have several mechanisms in place to deal with people who behave anti-socially, and in severe cases these can lead to ASBOs and eviction.