From: Tim Davis Sent: 04 June 2018 15:32 To: Trevor Campbell-Smith Subject: Herriard Housing Need Evidence Attachments: Herriard Housing survey report (003).pdf
Dear Trevor
I write to confirm the identified need for affordable housing within the Parish of Herriard – evidence which not only supports the proposed mix of affordable housing by size and tenure, but also the proposed models and their exceptional affordability.
The conclusions stem from the Parish Housing Need Survey (undertaken in 2015) and also evidence extracted from the Borough Council’s Housing Register (for rented housing) and the Help To Buy South Register (for forms of intermediate housing and affordable home ownership).
Original Housing Need Survey (2015)
During 2015 a Parish Housing Need survey was undertaken by Herriard Parish Council using methodology that was informed by the HARAH Rural Housing Enabler.
From a total of 23 households who responded to the survey and identified a need for separate accommodation, 12 of those who were renting in the village expressed a desire to buy a home. 2 respondents considered there was a need for current owner-occupiers to downsize.
Referring to typical local house prices and the incomes of those who had responded to the survey, the report highlighted the substantial accessibility and affordability gaps for those who wish to buy but cannot do so; and how existing rented homes in the village could be released for those in greater need if home ownership aspirations could be met.
10 of the 23 households who responded to the survey and identified a need for separate accommodation, expressed the wish to rent an affordable home from a Housing Association.
More recent data taken from the Borough Council’s Housing Register and the Help to Buy South Register have endorsed the need for affordable housing and the appropriateness of the suggested tenure mix and the proposed affordable housing models (both of which are more ‘affordable’ than conventional versions that are typically delivered by larger Registered Providers).
Herriard exception scheme - proposed mix of affordable housing
Bedrooms Rent @70% Shared-Ownership (with no rental element) 1 2 2 2 2 3 1 2 Total 5 4
BDBC Housing Register with a local connection to the Parish (as at 18th January 2018)
Bedrooms General Need
1 (min) 1 3 2 1 3 2 Total 6
Help To Buy South Register (May 2017)
Bedrooms Herriard 1 1 2 3 3 1 Total 5
I trust the above is sufficient to justify the underlying need for affordable housing that underpins the Herriard proposal, but please do not hesitate to ask if you have any further questions.
Kind regards
Tim
Tim Davis Principal Housing Enabling Officer Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council Tel: 01256 845760 [email protected] www.basingstoke.gov.uk @BasingstokeGov @BasingstokeGov Sign up to receive email updates on council services, news and events at www.basingstoke.gov.uk/signup
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HERRIARD HOUSING NEEDS SURVEY 2015
Herriard Parish Council C/O Tile Barn Herriard Hampshire RG25 2PE
Phone: 01256 381333 Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.herriard-pc.gov.uk
06/05/2015 . . . . . Table . of Contents . . .
1. Introduction 1
2. Purpose of Herriard Housing needs 2015 survey 3
3. Respondent analysis
i) Household type 4 ii) Length of tenure 5 iii) Size of current home 5 iv) Household size and age make-up 6
4. Housing needs analysis
i) Tenants wanting to buy 7 ii) Households needing additional accommodation 8 iii) Households wishing to move/return to Herriard 8 iv) Reasons for moving/returning 9 v) Size of houses required 10 vi) Rent/mortgage expectations 10 vii) Preferred tenure 11
5. Village opinion on new housing
i) Are more houses needed 12 ii) How many houses should be built 12 iii) Where should they be built 13 iv) What types of houses should be built 13
6. Conclusion 14
1. Introduction
Herriard is a rural working community. Historically, the main employment was farming and other traditional rural trades. As traditional work declined so did the population from a peak of about 450 in the early 1800’s to its current level of around 200.
The population was falling until about 1980 when the Parish Council and the Herriard Estate became concerned about the continued viability of the village community. To accommodate the needs of the existing working population and the requirements of those attracted to the village by new job opportunities we have therefore sought to slowly widen the available housing options in the village.
8 bungalows for the over 50’s were built at Southrope Green and more recently 6 affordable houses on Hockley’s Lane. Both of these developments were delivered and are managed by Housing Associations.
Several market homes have been created by the conversion of redundant agricultural buildings at Grange and Manor Farms. In 2010 3 large family homes were completed at Herriard Green, the sale of which funded the development of the new community facilities there.
In 2013, following the completion of Herriard Green, the Parish Council commissioned a broad based village survey to inform and guide the development of future plans for Herriard.
Simply put, the 2013 Village Survey was designed to provide us with data that would enable us to influence decisions by local authorities and other service providers so that we had a basis for planned action by people in the Parish. We also sought to provide a basis for obtaining funding for local initiatives and activities along with a framework to help the Parish Council decide upon what community needs to focus on and to ensure that the village develops in a way that benefits all.
Questions were framed in such a way that we obtained both quantitative and qualitative data.
Herriard Housing Needs Survey 2015 1 Questionnaires were delivered to all 106 households in the Parish and responses received from 85 – an 80% response rate.
The survey responses were overwhelmingly positive - people said they like living in Herriard.
Nevertheless, the survey revealed aspects of the village and life here that residents felt could be improved:
• Action to restrict traffic speeds • Initiatives to make the village more inclusive • Extending the pathway network around the Parish • Improvements to mobile phone and broadband services • Maintenance of the rural policing standards • Additional housing
During 2014, Herriard Parish Council was successful in delivering improvements in most of the above areas. However, in order to develop proposals on possible future housing development in the village, the Parish Council decided that more detailed data was needed.
The Herriard Housing Needs survey – 2015 set out to provide an overview of the current housing situation and provide a detailed insight of the village’s needs and wishes regarding future requirements.
Herriard Housing Needs Survey 2015 2 2. Purpose of the Herriard Housing needs survey – 2015.
The results of the Village Survey conducted in 2013 identified a general requirement for new housing in Herriard. This new study was commissioned to reveal detailed data about specific housing needs across the range of tenures in the Parish.
Questionnaires were delivered to all 106 dwellings in the Parish. Prepaid, addressed envelopes were supplied with each questionnaire to enable their anonymous return direct to the Clerk to Herriard Parish Council for analysis.
Herriard Parish Council intends to use the detailed evidence from this survey both to guide its plans for development in the Parish and to provide a foundation for discussions with B&DBC Planning Department.
Herriard Housing Needs Survey 2015 3 3. Respondent analysis
Survey questionnaires were delivered to all 106 dwellings in the Parish with 68 returned, an excellent return rate of 64%.
i) Household Type -
The questionnaire asked respondents to identify the tenure of their current home.
Herriard Parish has a total of 53 privately rented houses, 14 Housing Association dwellings and 39 owner-occupied properties. As can be seen, the overall survey response is very closely correlated to the underlying tenure make-up and should therefore provide good quality data across all household types.
Herriard Housing Needs Survey 2015 4 ii) Length of tenure -
70.1% of responding Herriard residents have lived in their current home for over 5 years. 9% of responses came from those who have lived here for less than 2 years. Many older residents have lived in the village, but not necessarily in their current home, for most of their lives.
iii) Size of current home -
65% of respondents live in 2/3 bedded properties and 11% in 1 bedroom units (mainly Housing Association bungalows built for the over 50’s ). The Parish has relatively few larger houses although three 4-5 bedroomed properties were build and sold as part of the Herriard Village Centre scheme completed some 5 years ago.
Herriard Housing Needs Survey 2015 5
iv) Size and age distribution of current households -
Compared to national averages for rural households, Herriard has rather more 2 person households (42%, 34% nationally) and rather less family units with 4 people or more (21%, 26% nationally). Village households have slightly more members under 15yrs and over 65 years compared to the national average of 15% and 22% respectively.
Herriard Housing Needs Survey 2015 6
4. Housing need analysis
i) Tenants who would like to buy -
12 respondents who currently live in rented accommodation in the Parish say they would like to buy here. 10 of these 12 reported that price is the main barrier to them purchasing.
As already noted, market houses in Herriard make up less than 40% of the total housing stock. Homes rarely come to the market and those that do command significant premiums over similarly sized properties in, say Basingstoke
Herriard Housing Needs Survey 2015 7 ii) Households with members needing separate accommodation -
Responses indicate that there are 12 households with members who need separate accommodation either now or in the near future. 3 of these are singles, 6 are couples , with the remaining 3 being families of 4 or more.
iii) Households who know people who would like to return or move to the village -
5 households reported that they knew of people who had been forced to leave the Parish due to lack of suitable housing. A total of 19 households are aware of one or more people/families that would like to move or return to the village.
Herriard Housing Needs Survey 2015 8
Family connection was the most often cited reason for wanting to return or move to village along with employment links.
Respondents who said that they either had members of their own household in need of separate accommodation (ii above) or who knew of people outside the village wanting accommodation here (iii above) were asked provide further details of their needs.
iv) What types of family unit make up groups (ii) and (iii) - (32 responses) -
Herriard Housing Needs Survey 2015 9
v) What size of dwelling do they need (28 responses) -
vi) What would the new household be willing and able to pay in rent/mortage per month (14 responses) -
Herriard Housing Needs Survey 2015 10
vii) What would be the new household’s preferred tenure (23 responses) -
The 53% preferring to buy represents 12 respondents. The next highest group is the 10 who would prefer to rent from a Housing Association.
Herriard Housing Needs Survey 2015 11
5. Village opinion on new housing.
i) Do you think more houses are needed in the village -
There were 63 responses to this question, 45 of which were affirmative.
ii) If YES how many should be built -
Herriard Housing Needs Survey 2015 12 iii) If YES where should they be built -
iv) What type of houses are needed
Herriard Housing Needs Survey 2015 13 A majority of respondents are in favour of building some new homes in the village. Of those in favour, most think 6-10 houses located centrally near existing homes would be most appropriate. There are no identified brown-field sites, so inevitably any development would need to be on currently undeveloped land.
A mix of housing types is favoured by respondents. 75% felt 2/3 bedroom homes were important along with nearly 20% who wanted to see more homes suitable for singles and older people.
The survey shows people want a mix of tenures for any new development with 21 people specifically identifying affordable houses to rent while 30 people favoured affordable houses to buy.
Herriard Housing Needs Survey 2015 14 6. Conclusion.
The Herriard Housing needs survey-2015 clearly shows that the current housing stock in the village is neither large enough nor diverse enough to satisfy the requirements villagers have set out in their responses.
i) Homes to buy
12 residents currently renting in the village would like to buy. Additionally, 12 of the 23 people within the group who identified a need for separate additional accommodation also wanted to buy. At least two respondents felt a need to cater for current owner-occupiers wanting to down-size
As already mentioned, houses to buy in Herriard rarely come to market and those that do are at prices levels well above the affordability results revealed by this survey.
Using a 3 bedroom semi-detached home in the village recently sold (STC) for circa £420,000 as an example, a buyer with a 20% (£84,000) deposit would currently face mortgage repayments of around £1,300/£1,400 per month.
£1,000, the highest affordable monthly mortgage payment identified, would currently support a property purchase at circa £315,000 (with a 20% deposit). According to Zoopla, there has been only one property sold in Herriard at or below this price in the last 10 years. The same property (a small 2 bedroom terraced house) has changed hands several times in this period and has a current estimated market value of £272,000 ( Zoopla)
There is a substantial identified need in the village for additional 1 and 2/3 bedroom homes to buy.
Herriard Housing Needs Survey 2015 15 ii) Homes to rent
23 respondents identified a need for separate accommodation within their own household or say they know people wishing to move or return to the village. Of these, 10 households would want to rent. Again 1, 2 and 3 bedroom properties are required.
These families reported a preference for Housing Association rather than privately rented homes. Reasons for this were not explored but perceived cost-differential may be factor.
Herriard has 6 2–bedroom and 8 1-bedroom Housing Association homes. There are 53 privately rented properties in the Parish, mostly 2 and 3 bedroom.
Monthly rental costs in Herriard for Housing Association 2-bed units start from £525, those for the privately rented houses are mainly in a range from £550 to £750.
There is an identified current need in the village for up to 10 additional 1,2,3 bedroom affordable homes to rent. However, this requirement would be partially offset if existing tenants who wished, had the opportunity to become owner-occupiers.
iii) Shared ownership homes
The survey identified only 1 person interested in shared-ownership. However, given the price constraints detailed in (i) above, the Parish Council feels this alternative route to affordability should be explored further and in more detail.
Herriard Housing Needs Survey 2015 16