Hampshire Rural Housing Newsletter
HARAH Hampshire Alliance for Rural Affordable Housing
Spring 2012
80 new homes completed or due to complete shortly
Inside this issue... page 2 - 3 G
Rural Housing Enablers plan event to celebrate 10 years of work with Hampshire parishes The HARAH Rural Design Guide makes good progress
80 new homes completed or on target to complete by end of April 2012 HARAH, through our development partner The Hyde Group has recently completed 29 new homes for local people in the villages of Over Wallop and Kings Somborne in Test Valley Borough. Excited residents of the village of Over Wallop were given the keys to their brand new homes on 24 November 2011. The eight unit development, Appleton Mews, is the third phase of development on Appleton Close on land purchased from Test Valley Borough Council in co-operation with the local parish council. Chairman of the Parish Council, Lindsay Murray-Twinn, said:
“Appleton Mews has exceeded my expectations; the development fits perfectly into the village surroundings and the quality of the build is excellent.” A keen supporter of affordable housing in Over Wallop, she added: “I know how difficult it is for young people to get into housing, particularly in rural areas. Since a lot of the council housing stock went into private ownership there is virtually no hope of young people being able to afford even the cheapest home in the village. I am so pleased that the residents of this development all have strong local connections, and some
New homes (continued)
page 4 G
More rural homes in the near future
page 5 G
Hampshire Rural Housing Enablers plan their 10th Birthday celebrations
page 6 G
HARAH sponsor Rural Housing Conference in Winchester
G
The HARAH Rural Design Guide makes good progress
page 7 G
G G
HARAH officers attend HALC AGM The Localism Act The National Planning Policy Framework
page 8 G
G
New website design for HARAH Contacts
1
come from families that go back generations.” The member of one wellknown village family, Paul Fudge (39), pictured, was thrilled to be moving into a two bedroom home with his partner Johana (38) and four month old baby, Sadie.
local people in rural areas helps these communities to grow and thrive. it’s the Big Society in action” The official launch on 3 February 2012 of the latest
“It feels fantastic to have this beautiful brand-new twobedroom home. It was just what we wanted after having to live in a small one-bedroom flat. It has really been a godsend. “It is so hard to get a property; we would not have stood a chance if we’d bid for anything outside of this area. Really, it was the only opportunity for us to stay in the village close to all my family. We both work locally so the location is absolutely ideal -I’m so thrilled I can walk to work.” Councillor Sandra Hawke, Portfolio Holder for Housing and Environmental Health at Test Valley Borough Council and Chair of HARAH Members Group who visited the development to meet some of the new residents said: “The provision of affordable homes is at the heart of Test Valley Borough Council’s corporate plan. We are delighted to be involved in the Appleton Mews development; affordable rural housing is a high priority for the Borough and we work hard with partners to address the shortage. More housing for
2
can be built, and it continues to thrive,” said Ron, who married a Kings Somborne girl 59 years ago and spent 40 years working on the railways. If it hadn’t been for the passion and hard work of Ron, and fellow former Parish Council Chair, Dick Dyke, the development would probably not have happened, and local families with connections going back generations, would have been lost to the community. The beautiful 21-home Lancaster Green development with stunning panoramic views across the countryside is testament to their determination, and is now home to delighted residents who have recently moved into their brand-new homes.
Paul Fudge, Over Wallop HARAH scheme, a new affordable housing development of 21 homes in the picturesque village of Kings Somborne in Test Valley has been welcomed by village stalwart, Ron Bevan, who was a former Chair of the Parish Council. “It’s the only way we are going to keep our village alive. So many young people have had to move away because housing here has become unaffordable. A development like this rejuvenates our village and everyone benefits: the local shops, the local school...It’s a lovely little village, so I hope more homes
Elated residents - with a family tree going back several generations - moved into their four-bedroom home after a six year wait for suitable accommodation. Wayne Black with partner, Lisa Cooper and their four children had lived in Andover and spent plenty of time and money travelling to and from Kings Somborne where the children are at school. A further 51 homes are due to be completed by the end of April in the villages of Twyford (15) and Wickham (20) in Winchester District, Martin (6) in the New Forest and Awbridge (10) in Test Valley.
Kings Somborne At many of these schemes we have held pre-allocation events for applicants on the Housing Register. The events are run jointly by the Local Authority and Hyde and are also attended by Parish and Ward Councillors.
The events, held over a period of hours in the village hall or community centre, give as many people as possible the chance to find out more and have been very well attended.
The purpose of these events is to enable households on the Housing Register to view plans of the new homes, find out when they are due to be advertised on the relevant Choice Based Lettings website and receive advice from allocations officers on eligibility for the homes (the local connection criteria they have to meet) and how to place a bid for a property. It is also an opportunity for new applicants to find out how to join the Housing Register.
The scheme in Wickham is the first HARAH scheme in which we have worked with a Community Land Trust (CLT). Wickham CLT have been involved throughout the development process and indeed helped to initiate the scheme. They will own and manage 8 of the homes, which will be a mixture of shared ownership and intermediate rent. One of the benefits of a CLT is having the asset values, i.e. the affordable homes in community hands to provide security for community-led and run programmes. CLTs are one of the new community solutions supported by the Governments Housing Strategy for England. More information about CLTs can be found on the CLT website.
www.communitylandtrusts.org.uk
Twyford
Twyford, January 2012
3
More rural homes in the near future A scheme of 10 homes for local people in West Meon (Winchester district) has recently started on site following an interesting and productive archaeological dig. The dig was undertaken by archaeological consultants on behalf of builders, Drew Smith and some fascinating finds were made. A local event enabled villagers to come and experience the archaeological dig and view some of the finds before they were removed for analysis and further study. Other schemes which are on site or about to go on site include 5 homes in Breamore (New Forest district) and 9 homes in Bentley (East Hampshire district).
Breamore is the first of a number of rural schemes which are a joint venture between Hampshire County Councils ‘Project 500’, which has provided the land and HARAH who will be delivering the homes through their development partner, The Hyde Group. Through ‘Project 500’, Hampshire County Council aims to make suitable plots of land available to provide many affordable homes across the county. Where the plots of land fall within the HARAH rural area, the County Council will usually work with HARAH and the homes will be delivered by The Hyde Group. The site in Breamore is located next to the old station and disused railway line, now a footpath. Work has started on improvements to the road junction which will benefit
local people and ramblers accessing the old railway line. Considerable effort has been put into the fine detail of the design to maintain the character of the old station. Bentley is the first HARAH scheme funded through the 2011-15 HCA Programme and the 9 homes will be let at the new ‘affordable rents’ introduced by the Government. Drew Smith won the contract through a Tender process, successfully beating 5 other tenderers. Hyde received funding from The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) for all these schemes. Hyde is the developer, with Drew Smith as their contractor for all the homes except those in Twyford, developed by Hazeley Developments and purchased by Hyde.
Breamore site layout
4
Rural Housing Enablers, Jane Rukin Mags Wylie
Hampshire Rural Housing Enablers plan their 10th Birthday celebrations The Hampshire Rural Housing Enablers project at Community Action Hampshire is celebrating its 10th birthday in June this year. The project to date has helped to enable more than 395 rural affordable homes to be built in 55 rural villages across Hampshire. A further 121 homes are funded and will be built over the next 1-2 years. In all, this has helped more than 1000 local people to stay or return to their communities. The project began in 2002 to help address a now widely
acknowledged problem: that house price inflation has pushed open market housing beyond the reach of those on lower rural incomes with the result that many younger and less affluent people were forced to leave their communities to find cheaper, more affordable housing elsewhere. Providing affordable housing to local people helps create mixed communities, breathes fresh life into rural communities and helps ensure that local people can stay in their communities whatever their age or circumstance. The role of the Rural Housing Enablers is to encourage Parish Councils and local communities to identify housing need and engage with the process of developing affordable
housing schemes in the parish and then support and assist the Parish Council and local community throughout the process. Mags Wylie Senior Rural Housing Enabler at Community Action Hampshire said ‘It’s great to know that this project has helped to leave a lasting legacy in so many peoples’ lives. We and all our HARAH partners look forward to working together to help create more homes for local people over the next few years” For more information, please contact: The Rural Housing Enablers on 01962 857 361
5
HARAH sponsor Rural Housing Conference in Winchester A Rural Housing Advisory Group Conference held in Winchester on 16 September and attended by Councillors and rural practitioners from all over England and Wales was sponsored by HARAH. HARAH Members’ Group Chairman, Councillor Sandra Hawke addressed the Conference and highlighted the success of the HARAH partnership in delivering affordable homes for local people in the villages of Hampshire.
HARAH ran two workshops on the benefits of partnership working. These prompted lively discussions and have been followed up with subsequent enquiries about how the partnership works The workshops were led by HARAH’s Strategic Housing Officer, Debbie Rhodes and the Hyde Group’s Development Manager, Chris Buchan-Hepburn. Chris Buchan-Hepburn said: “The benefit of our partnership working is clear: a streamlined approach to delivery makes the provision of affordable housing more efficient and consistently results in high quality housing.
In addition, it increases the availability of funding to provide more affordable homes within shorter timescales and, by working with parish councillors and local residents, it ensures long-term investment in local communities.” The Rural Housing Advisory Group Conference addressed political changes that affect rural housing delivery and gave practitioners the opportunity to hear from experts and to share ideas, good practice and new ways of working. Presentations made at the Conference can be viewed on the RHAG website, below.
http://www.ruralaffordablehousing.org.uk/rhag/rhageventsept2011.html
The HARAH Rural Design Guide makes good progress The purpose of the Rural Design Guide is to give guidance on the development of rural schemes that are good places to live and contribute to the attractiveness and local distinctiveness of their village locations. It will provide a consistent approach to preplanning design guidance across the HARAH area. The working group of HARAH officers drawn from planning, housing development, highways and landscapes have
6
been meeting since March 2011 to develop the guide to a position where it can become adopted guidance by the HARAH partnership. To kick start the project East Hampshire District Council received funding, on behalf of HARAH, from the Department of Communities and Local Government for rural pre planning design guidance. The funding was used to pay the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment
(CABE) to work with HARAH to produce guidance. CABE completed their work in March 2011. Julia Mansi, Planning Development Manager at EHDC and Chair of the Group said ‘The Guide will be a valuable tool for planners, developers as well as parish councils and rural communities. We are making good progress and aim to complete the guide in early 2012’.
HARAH officers attend HALC AGM HARAH Officers ran an information stand at the Hampshire Association of Local Councils’ AGM on 29th October 2011. HARAH is continually working with new Parish Councils in Hampshire that wish to provide a small number of affordable homes to meet the needs of local people in their parish. The HALC AGM gave us an opportunity to meet new Parish Councils and talk to them about the work of HARAH. We were also able to catch up with parish councillors with whom we are already working or with whom we have worked in the past to deliver affordable housing. Plain English guide to the Localism Act
The Localism Act The Localism Act received Royal Assent on 15 November 2011. Certain provisions came into effect immediately or through the first Commencement Order on 3 December 2011. The Second Commencement order came into effect on 15 January 2012, two months after Royal Assent, bringing into effect a number of new measures and powers. The second commencement order can be read in full at: www.legislation.gov.uk/uk si/2012/57/contents/made
The National Planning Policy Framework The Government launched the draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) for consultation last summer and received a response from HARAH amongst the hundreds of responses to the consultation. The final NPPF was published on 27th March 2012. It streamlines national planning policy into a consolidated set of priorities to consider when planning for and deciding on new development. The NPPF aims to set national priorities and rules only where it is necessary to do so - to help ensure that planning decisions reflect national objectives whilst allowing for local authorities and communities to produce their own plans, reflecting the distinctive needs and priorities of different parts of the country. The NPPF can be viewed at http://www.communities.gov.uk/ documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/2115939.pdf All the Local Authorities in the HARAH partnership that do not have adopted Core Strategies have been busy drafting policies which will conform to the NPPF. Information is available on the draft Core Strategies and timetables for adoption on the individual websites of the Local Authorities.
A plain English guide to the Localism Act is available at: www.communities.gov.uk/ publications/ localgovernment/ localismplainenglishupdate Further measures in the Localism Act are expected to be in place by April 2012.
7
New website design for HARAH HARAH is refreshing its website which we hope will make it easier to use, whilst continuing to be an excellent source of information about HARAH and with useful links to other information on rural housing. We aim to switch over to the new design in April 2012. The address will remain the same: www.harah.org.uk
Down View Road, Martin (New Forest) completed February 2012
Contacts The HARAH website www.harah.org.uk has a full list of contacts and a downloadable copy of this newsletter. If you would like a hard copy of this newsletter or have any questions or comments, please send them to: Debbie Rhodes
If you own land on the edge of a village which may be suitable for affordable housing for local people, please contact:
HARAH Strategic Housing Officer c/o Winchester City Council City Offices Colebrook Street Winchester S023 9LJ
Head of New Business The Hyde Group 63 St Mary Street St Mary’s Southampton SO14 1NU
Email: drhodes@winchester.gov.uk
Email: chris.buchan-hepburn@hyde-housing.co.uk
Chris Buchan-Hepburn
02380 836 852 The Hampshire Rural Housing Enablers are the first point of contact for parishes who would like to know more about rural affordable housing or who would like to progress some homes. Their contact details are: mags.wylie@action.hants.org.uk Mags Wylie, 01962 857 361, Jane Rukin, 01962 857 362, jane.rukin@action.hants.org.uk Address: Community Action Hampshire, Beaconsfield House, Andover Road, Winchester, Hants, SO22 6AT
8