Middlezoy Housing Need Assessment 2021

Middlezoy Somerset, England HOUSING NEED ASSESSMENT

REPORT MAY 2021

THIS PAGE HAS BEEN DELIBERATELY LEFT BLANK

Parish of Middlezoy Housing Need Assessment 2021

Draft Report April 2021

Final Report May 2021 Duncan Harvey – Service Manager (Housing Development) Service Manager Tel: 01278 436440 Email: duncan.harvey@sedgemoor.gov.uk

Researcher Rebekah Wood, Housing Development Assistant

Organisation Sedgemoor District Council (SDC) The SDC Affordable Housing Delivery Team (AFHDT) is a specialist team responsible for the delivery of new affordable housing and build new council homes. The team sits within the SDC Housing, Communities & Wellbeing Service.

The AFHDT provides support and advice to parish council(s), landowner(s), developer(s), and registered provider(s) with the aim of developing new affordable housing. The AFHDT has developed its own housing need assessment processes. Housing Development Team, Sedgemoor District Council, Address Bridgwater House, King Square, Bridgwater, Somerset, TA6 3AR

E-mail [email protected]

REPORT STRUCTURE PAGE

Introduction – Middlezoy 2021 Housing Need Assessment 3 Process and Methodology 4 Middlezoy– The Place – Living in Middlezoy 5 Assessment of Housing Need in Middlezoy 2020-2021 6 Appendix 1 – Affordable Housing Definition 8 Appendix 2 – Policy Considerations for Future Housing 8 Further Information 10

Introduction - Middlezoy 2020-2021 Housing Need Assessment From the outset, it is important to appreciate that establishing the future need for housing is not exact science. There is no definitive clinical approach to assessing a person’s future housing need. At best, it is subjective opinion based on the facts in front of you, knowledge of housing market and the professional experience of working in the housing sector over many years. This report offers a snapshot in time insight into the potential immediate housing needs across the parish of Middlezoy in Somerset, England. The Housing Need Assessment (HNA) was undertaken during Spring 2021 (with the support of the parish council) and was conducted to provide an up to date insight into what (if any) unmet local housing need existed in Middlezoy. Purpose of the Middlezoy Housing Need Assessment Identify additional local housing need that is currently not being recognised by housing registers or other secondary data sources. Investigate and identify whether there is any additional local affordable housing need that is currently not being recognised by housing registers or other secondary data sources. Some households may not know how to register of affordable housing. Identify concealed housing need. This includes residents who are unable to afford to rent or buy a home in the parish and are living within another household. Identify households who have been forced out of the parish due to problems finding a suitable home in Middlezoy at a price they can afford. Provide an insight into why local people are struggling to secure a home in Middlezoy. Help inform the Parish Council and the wider community understand what local housing demand exists. Raise awareness of the prevailing housing issues in Middlezoy. Provide an impartial and balanced source of robust primary evidence into possible unmet local housing need In 2017, Sedgemoor District Council’s Affordable Housing Development Team (AFHDT) completed a housing need assessment in Middlezoy. This report highlighted the simple fact that a meaningful number of local people needed assistance finding a suitable home, at a price they could afford, in the Middlezoy parish where they had strong connections such existing residency, family or support needs and employment. High local house prices, along with a lack of smaller affordable homes across all housing tenures was the overwhelming problem facing this cohort of local people. Whilst there is no definitive guidance on the shelf-life of a housing need assessment, the council has always taken the view that any HNA is a credible evidence base for about three years. Other local authorities suggest a five-year period, whilst others do not even call for HNA evidence and choose to rely solely on the basic waiting list data. It could be argued that the 2017 HNA is still valid, albeit nearing the end of its shelf-life. The conclusions of this report will supersede the 2017 HNA and provide the latest snapshot of possible unmet need. For the purposes of the HNA exercise, housing need has been defined as the need of an individual or household to obtain housing which is suitable to their circumstances. It implies that there are problems or limitations with the household’s current housing arrangements and that the household is unable to afford or to access suitable accommodation in the private sector. Such problems may be due to housing costs, size, location, layout, state of repair or security of tenure. This need may be immediate or anticipated soon.

Process and Methodology The Middlezoy HNA was an online survey. Letters were sent out, covering every property in the parish. Anyone wishing to respond to the HNA were able to do so digitally. Help was available to those who felt unable to use or needed help to use the online survey portal. Letters were also sent to the eleven (11) households who were registered on Homefinder Somerset Housing Register (housing waiting list) who had indicated that Middlezoy was as their preferred area of choice (all claimed to have a local connection to Middlezoy). The HNA survey requested information about the household, current housing circumstances and the households future housing needs. The personal data provided from each survey has been assessed individually to ascertain each respondent’s personal need/requirement. When assessing a respondent’s ability to solve their own housing requirements, several basic assumptions have been made. Factors such as a person’s current living conditions, their personal needs and future family requirements, the cost and availability of private sector housing and their financial circumstances have all be factored in. In terms of accessing homeownership, it has been assumed the purchase price of a home will not exceed three times their gross annual income plus available deposit (minimum of 10% of purchase price). In terms of renting, the annual cost of their home (rent and any service charge) should not exceed 30% of their disposal income. Respondents who are unable access the open market (buy or rent) are assessed against eligibility for affordable rented or intermediate home ownership product. The respondent’s income, savings and size of family are key factors for assessing their need for affordable housing. The assessment of affordability looks at household incomes and savings, which are then measured against property prices, which suit the size and type, whether rented, or home ownership. Depending on tenure, additional factors are checked that will affect the cost of acquiring the property. The HNA was aimed at people who were struggling to find a suitable home in the parish. Put simply, the HNA sought to identify just how many local people were faced with this challenge and what new housing might be required for these people. It is important to note that the HNA exercise was not a survey of local opinion into the future provision of housing across the parish. The Housing Need Survey analysis used primary data from online survey submission, as well as secondary data from local house prices and income data (web based), Office for National Statistics (2011) and Homefinder Somerset (Housing Register) system to inform this report. The results of the survey will alter with increasing/decreasing values of housing, lenders policies, economic climate, and demographic changes in the community as individual’s situations change. The conclusions provided offer a snapshot in time insight into potential unmet local housing need in Middlezoy in early 2021. Headline Messages 43 survey responses were submitted. The personal data provided from each survey response has been assessed individually to ascertain each respondent’s personal need/requirement. 26 respondents were assessed as being in housing need of an affordable home, all of whom were considered to have a strong local connection with the parish of Middlezoy. 17 respondents were assessed as being able to resolve their future housing requirements in the private sector or did not have a housing need.

Middlezoy – The Place - Living in Middlezoy Middlezoy parish has a population of 725 according to the 2011 census. The Parish of Middlezoy is in the heart of rural Somerset, on the edge of the Somerset Levels. The parish includes the village of Middlezoy at its centre of the parish and community. The 2011 census tells us that there were 315 properties across the parish of Middlezoy, with owner occupation being the dominant tenure at 83.7% of all homes (257 households). This is higher than the Sedgemoor district average of 71.3%. With just 27 private rented homes across the parish, accounting for 8.8% of the homes. This below the Sedgemoor district average of 14.5%. There were a further 12 affordable homes across the parish, accounting for a mere 3.9% of the overall housing stock. The vast majority of these do not have any form of local person priority allocation policy attached to them. This means that when they become available, local people are not given any automatic priority for them. In theory, anyone on the county wide housing register could apply for a vacant property. This means that when vacancies arise, local people must compete with others from outside the village.

A review of sold house prices in Middlezoy (Rightmove) confirmed an overall average price of £311,000 over the last year. Most sales during the last year were semi-detached properties, selling for an average price of £254,500. Across Sedgemoor, there are a growing number of young adults unable to access the housing ladder and continue to live with parents or relatives. In rural areas, this is significant due to the affordability gap where rural house prices tend to be well above average, while rural incomes are below average. Anecdotally, there is evidence to suggest that some local people have been forced to leave the village due to their inability to access the local housing market. This adds to the increasing loss of younger adults and families who often support and contribute towards rural local communities. The unaffordability and accessibility of housing in Middlezoy for these groups of local people is extreme. There seems to be a meaningful (albeit small in overall number) local desire for affordable homeownership, particularly shared ownership. Sadly, the reality (as confirmed during our investigations) is that this local aspiration (from individuals and the wider community) does not match local ability to afford what is considered an affordable option in other less expensive areas of Sedgemoor. Using live data, a 2-bed home in Middlezoy is currently marketed at £178,000. Anyone wishing to purchase this property would have a basic housing cost (not including running costs and bills) of £835pcm. A minimum disposal household annual income of circa £33,500 would be needed to access what many would say is the bottom of ladder entry level housing.

Access to private rented housing in Middlezoy is extremely hard to secure to limited number of rented homes in Middlezoy. Vacancies are infrequent, particularly smaller units suitable for single people or smaller families. For some (not all), a local person looking for a home is faced with a micro housing market where smaller homes are in very short supply, house prices are very high (even entry level homes), a limited expensive private rented sector all make for gloomy reading for any local resident (especially the younger people and families with young children) looking to find a suitable home, at a price they can afford within the community with whom they have a strong local connection. There are no new affordable homes planned for the parish. Assessment of Housing Need in Middlezoy 2020-2021 The Housing Need Survey analysis used primary data from online survey submission, as well as secondary data from local house prices and income data (web based), Office for National Statistics (2011) and Homefinder Somerset (Housing Register) system to inform this report The tables below provide an at-a-glance insight in the GROSS assessed affordable housing need of people from the 2021 HNA. This tells us that there are TWENTY-SIX (26) local individuals or families in need of an affordable home (all have a local connection). The tables below provide an at-a-glance insight in the assessed affordable housing need of people with local connection to Middlezoy from the 2021 HNA. The findings from the survey showed that nineteen (19) respondents we would recommend affordable rented tenure and further four (7) respondents we would recommend some form of Home Ownership product. These include all respondents with or without a local connection.

Number of In Housing Need – Moving Timescale Respondents Need to move within 12 months 9 Need to move in the next 2 years 7

Need to move in the next 2 – 5 years 10

Number of In Housing Need – Local Connection Respondents Live 5 + years in the parish 11

Previously lived 5 years or more in the parish 1 Immediate family in the parish 13 Receive/Provide care for family in the parish N 1 None 0 UNSUITA

Number of In Housing Need – Reason for Move Respondents

Need Independence 13

Insecure tenancy 11 Home in bad state of repair 2

When preparing this Housing Needs Survey each respondent’s circumstances were assessed to determine whether they were firstly IN HOUSING NEED, secondly whether the respondents are capable of RESOLVING THEIR HOUSING PROBLEM in the prevailing housing market and thirdly what STRENGTH OF LOCAL CONNECTION the household has with Middlezoy. For the purposes of the HNA, a local connection with the parish is the following criteria: Live 5 years or more in the parish Live up to 5 years in the parish 6

Previously lived 5 years or more in the parish Work 16 hours or more a week in the parish Have immediate family in the parish (grandparent(s), parent(s), child(ren) or sibling(s)) Provides or received care for family in the parish (as above) In terms of pre-existing housing need, Homefindersomerset (Housing Register) data is a useful additional indicator of potential affordable housing demand. Housing applicants who register via Homefinder Somerset are only able to select one preferred location for housing. Although Housing applicants choose a preferred location, they can bid for vacant affordable homes in any location. The number of Homefinder Somerset applicants who have Middlezoy as their preferred area of choice is likely to be greater than the figures below. People are often apathetic to register for affordable-housing in rural villages because they often feel there is no prospect of a home, this is normally due to the fact there has been no housing development in the village for a number of years. Homefindersomerset registrations spike at key stages of any new affordable housing project. The most notable of these triggers tend to be firstly when planning permission is secured, secondly when construction activity can be seen on site and thirdly, when the new homes are nearing completion. The table below sets out the data from Homefinder Somerset (Housing Register) showing the current number of applicants and their bedroom requirement who have registered an interest in living in Middlezoy. Whilst Homefinder Somerset data is a useful indicator of potential affordable housing demand, this data has not been used as primary assessment evidence of true unmet housing need in Middlezoy. Affordable Housing Need - Homefinder Somerset (Accurate as of Spring 2021) 1 bed 2 bed 3 bed 4 bed Total 8 1 2 0 11

Affordable Housing Recommendation from 2020-2021 Middlezoy HNA

Affordable Need Recommended Bedroom Number TOTAL Tenure Proposal 1 2 3 4 Shared Ownership 0 5 2 0 7 Rented 9 5 3 2 19 TOTAL 9 10 5 2 26

The above table makes interesting reading Several of the respondents expressed a preference for shared ownership. The stark truth is that local aspirations from individuals and the wider community for affordable homeownership in the form of shared ownership is not matched with local ability to access this supposedly affordable housing option.

Appendix 1 – Affordable Housing Definition Affordable Housing as defined in Annex 2 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) (February 2019) as may be updated from time to time to be provided in accordance with this Agreement and which shall comprise Affordable Housing for the purposes of this definition: Housing for sale or rent, for those whose needs are not met by the market (including housing that provides a subsidised route to home ownership and/or is for essential local workers); and which complies with one or more of the following definitions: Affordable Housing for Rent meets all the following conditions: (a) the rent is set in accordance with the Government’s rent policy for Social Rent or Affordable Rent or is at least 20% below local market rents (including service charges where applicable). (b) the landlord is a registered provider, except where it is included as part of a Build to Rent scheme (in which case the landlord need not be a registered provider); and (c) it includes provisions to remain at an affordable price for future eligible households, or for the subsidy to be recycled for alternative affordable housing provision. For Build to Rent schemes affordable housing for rent is expected to be the normal form of affordable housing provision (and, in this context, is known as Affordable Private Rent). Starter Homes: is as specified in Sections 2 and 3 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 and any secondary legislation made under these sections. The definition of a starter home should reflect the meaning set out in statute and any such secondary legislation at the time of plan-preparation or decision-making. Where secondary legislation has the effect of limiting a household’s eligibility to purchase a starter home to those with a maximum level of household income, those restrictions should be used. Discounted Market Sales Housing: is that sold at a discount of at least 20% below local market value. Eligibility is determined having regard to local incomes and local house prices. Provisions should be in place to ensure housing remains at a discount for future eligible households. d) Other affordable routes to home ownership is housing provided for sale that provides a route to ownership for those who could not achieve home ownership through the market. It includes shared ownership, relevant equity loans, other low-cost homes for sale (at a price equivalent to at least 20% below local market value) and rent to buy (which includes a period of intermediate rent). Where public grant funding is provided, there should be provisions for the homes to remain at an affordable price for future eligible households, or for any receipts to be recycled for alternative affordable housing provision, or refunded to Government or the relevant authority specified in the funding agreement. Appendix 2 – Policy Considerations for Future Housing Sedgemoor Adopted Local Plan 2011-2032 Middlezoy is designated a Tier 3 settlement in the adopted Local Plan 2011-2032. Sedgemoor Local Plan – Housing in Tier 3 Settlements Looking to future, Middlezoy is identified in the Sedgemoor Local Plan as a Tier 3 settlement. The Sedgemoor Local Plan has been adopted in February 2019. A copy of this document can be obtained from the Sedgemoor District Council website. Policy T3a is the relevant housing policy when considering any residential growth. Within the Settlement Boundary, proposals for redevelopment, infill, subdivision and conversion within existing settlement boundaries (as defined on the Policies Map set out in the Sedgemoor Local Plan) will be supported where it meets all of the criteria set out in the Sedgemoor Local Plan ▪ On sites within the settlement boundary, affordable housing will be sought on sites of 6 or more homes.

▪ On sites of 6 to 10 homes, the affordable housing will be in the form of an off-site financial contribution. This contribution will be held by Sedgemoor District Council, to be spent on providing affordable homes somewhere in Sedgemoor. ▪ On sites of 10 or more. Affordable housing is required on-site and provided the rate of 15% from brownfield sites or 30% from greenfield sites. Outside the Settlement Boundary, but well related to settlement boundaries, mixed tenure affordable and market housing proposals on sites specifically released for that purpose will be supported only where it is demonstrated that it meets all the following criteria: Housing proposals on sites specifically released for that purpose will be supported only where it is demonstrated that it meets the following minimum criteria (a full list of criteria can be found by reading the emerging local plan): ▪ Fulfils an identified local housing need for affordable and market housing as evidenced by an up to date assessment of local housing needs agreed with the District Council. ▪ The affordable housing provision (notwithstanding the requirements of Policy D6: Affordable Housing) will normally be a minimum of 40% of the total number of housing units provided on the site unless provision of alternative local infrastructure priorities is agreed. ▪ The scale of development should be appropriate to the size, accessibility, character, and physical identity of the settlement. ▪ The affordable housing should form part of the overall development and be well integrated with any market housing development will integrate the open market and affordable housing ▪ Be well related to and complement the existing built form of the settlement, providing opportunities for walking and cycling to local services and facilities; Improve access to local job opportunities, including on-site provision where appropriate. ▪ Meaningful and robust engagement and consultation with the Parish Council, local community and other local stakeholders will be encouraged to ensure that the planning impacts identified by the local community have been appropriately addressed as far as possible. ▪ Any such proposal that includes affordable housing will be supported by a local lettings policy.

This approach can best be described as a cross subsidy delivery model. This approach requires the construction of affordable housing and market housing outside the village development envelope. The market homes will generate a surplus to help fund the affordable homes. It is acceptable to build just affordable homes, but another source of subsidy (such a government grant) will be found. The building of these affordable housing does not require external public sector subsidy support. The gap funding required to fund the construction of the new affordable homes would come from the sale of the open-market homes. Development could come forward under this policy as 100% affordable housing projects. This approach would require public grant (subsidy) to work. The Government has launched the 2021-2026 Affordable Housing Programme (AHP). This programme allows registered providers to bid for grant to bring forward new affordable homes could be built. Other routes to affordable homes might include making better use of existing social housing, bringing empty homes back into use, some form of community supported initiative or some form of local self-build programme. A blend of all these may be needed.

FURTHER INFORMATION This report will be available on the Sedgemoor District Council web site www.sedgemoor.gov.uk/affordablehousing If you would like a receive a copy of this report, you should contact Affordable Housing Development Unit Housing, Health & Wellbeing Bridgwater House King Square Bridgwater Somerset TA6 3AR Telephone: 0300 303 7800 Email: [email protected]