Suffolk ACRE

 

 

Housing Enabler

Between 2003 and 2010 the Suffolk ACRE Rural Housing Enabler(RHE) will have assisted in the completion  of 186 affordable local needs homes in 19 rural parishes . The RHE’s have also worked with Capel St Mary Parish, Babergh District Council, Suffolk County Council  and Orwell Housing Association to develop a 31 unit Very Sheltered, Local Needs Housing Scheme which is scheduled to be completed in 2010.

Local Needs Housing Process

If you would like to see the process in which we go through click here to view the our housing process diagram.

What is local needs housing? - an explanation

Housing need takes various forms, eg for older people, young people and families.
Housing provision must meet both urban and rural needs to help maintain a balanced community, particularly in a predominantly rural county like Suffolk.

• The nature of the problem in rural areas.
  In recent years concern has grown over the future of village life, where communities have been threatened because, among other things, local families have been unable to compete for increasingly scarce and expensive housing. Although the lack of affordable housing in rural communities has been a serious problem for many decades it has recently reached crisis point in many parts of the Country where house prices have outstripped average incomes by very large margins. High house prices, the loss of council houses through Right to Buy and restrictive planning policies has all played their part in worsening the situation.

• Local Housing needs schemes
  The above problems have led to the creation of local housing needs schemes in many villages in Suffolk. Such schemes are developed in partnership with Parish Councils, the District Council and a Housing Association.
  The small housing developments are kept for local people in perpetuity and can never be sold on the open market. A legal document is drawn up under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 between the District Council and the Housing Association to ensure the houses are kept in perpetuity for local people and will state clearly who is eligible for housing in the new development. It will not affect any existing Council or housing association property in the parish. 

• Exception sites and local housing needs surveys.
  Local authorities may adopt policies which enable them to grant planning permission for sites adjoining the village development envelope which would not normally be released for housing, in order to provide affordable housing to meet local needs in perpetuity.

These sites are known as 'Exception sites' and robust data, usually through a Local Housing Needs Survey must be submitted to support an 'exception scheme' Any rural community which is concerned about local housing needs scheme must therefore undertake a local housing needs survey to prove the need in the village. All households in the village will be given an opportunity to complete the survey forms. There will be a section on the form to indicate if any family members have had to leave the village due to lack of suitable accommodation and would like to return if a local affordable housing scheme is developed

Exception policy land is often much cheaper than land where housing would normally be permitted, and is therefore suitable when developing affordable housing. Guidance in the Local Authorities Exception Policy will have several criteria including that the style and character of such housing should be in keeping with its surroundings and local building.

Local connection

Provided the scheme is protected by a Section 106 agreement, lettings will be restricted initially to people with a strong connection to the parish. Each Local Authority will have it’s own definition of local need and local connection, but typically it would cover the following circumstances:
1. connected to the village by birth
2. have resided within the village for a number of years
3. had former residency in the village
4. close family members reside in the village
5. require accommodation within the village for work.

Types of affordable housing
Local Affordable housing schemes can include different types of tenure,
Housing for rent
This is housing for rent where the rent charged is substantially less than open market rents and is therefore affordable by local people in housing needs.

New Build Homebuy
This form of tenure is now a popular alternative to renting for those people who cannot aspire to current open market prices. There are several types of shared ownership, and the most common is Restricted Shared Equity where the occupier would initially have mortgage of 40 - 50% and pay a rent on the rest. If their income allows they can 'staircase' up and increase their share up to maximum of 80%. This ensures that the houses are never completely sold off and will remain available for local people in perpetuity. When the original occupants move on, the Housing Association will buy their share in, and with the aid of a Housing Corporation Grant can them offer it to another local family on the original basis.
Other types of shared ownership can include up to 100% of the cost of provision, which would suit those already owning their own homes, but who wish to 'trade down' and stay or return to the village, subject to the 'local' conditions above.

Suffolk ACRE's Rural Housing Enabler (RHE)
The RHE's provide a bridge between rural communities and housing providers and have a key role in generating detailed, local housing need surveys. The RHE's work with communities acts as a driver to achieve the housing that people need.
The Rural Housing enabler Programme was a national initiative by the Countryside Agency. Following the closure of the Countryside Agency, the role in Suffolk has continued with support from district councils and local Housing Associations. The RHE's are hosted by rural community development charitable organisations such as Rural Community Councils - in the case of Suffolk this is Suffolk ACRE.

Here is a picture of some of the houses which have been completed by Orwell Housing Association in the parish of Cockfield in Babergh. 20 houses have been developed on three separate sites  and the final site was completed in later 2008. All have been occupied by households with local connections to the parish 

 

Links

For further information please contact the Suffolk ACRE Rural Housing Enablers:

Louise Wilby louise.wilby@suffolkacre.org.uk took up the post as Suffolk Rural Housing Enabler in July 2002 and is now working with many rural communities in Suffolk.

Sunila Osborne, sunila.osborne@suffolkacre.org.uk