Agenda item

To receive a presentation from Hastoe Association on Rural Housing Schemes, (explanatory note attached).

The Director of Housing introduced a presentation on rural housing schemes, which consider the need for affordable housing in rural areas.  The need for affordable housing sprang from the increased rise in property prices. Rural areas are more attractive and can attract higher prices than urban areas. This meant that local people were unable to buy properties in their village, and would have to move away. There were also limited affordable properties to rent which could mean that local workers were unable to live locally and would thus have to travel some distance. There was also a lack of designated land for housing.

To help alleviate this, a Planning Exceptions Policy was established by the District Council. This is detailed in EFDC’s Local Plan and acknowledges the need for affordable housing in rural areas. This enables the Council to grant permission on sites for affordable housing, where normal market housing would be refused. But, certain conditions must be met:

• This could only be applied in smaller settlements that have a recognisable community,
• it must be small scale development (less than 15 properties),
• the settlement must be too small to offer housing to meet local needs (population under 3,000),
• there must be a demonstrable local housing need that cannot be met, and
• it must be supported by the Parish Council.

Any scheme must not be detrimental to the character of the village and have no highways or planning objections. It must also provide affordable housing in perpetuity. Sites should not be identified in the Local Plan and applicants must live in the village or have some connection to that village.

For rented properties, applicants must be on EFDC’s Housing Register and express interest for vacancies via the Home-Options Scheme. Nominations are then made to the Housing Association.

The district has so far completed three schemes, one at Manns Yard, Willingale (six rented houses/bungalows), one in Houchin Drive, Fyfield (six rented houses) and Harlow Road, Matching Tye (four rented houses and four shared ownership houses). Hastoe Housing Association is the Council’s “Preferred Housing Association Partner” to undertake such rural schemes and has successfully completed the most recent two schemes and are currently working on a further two (one in Horsecroft, Abbess Roding and one in Moreton).

EFDC have five Preferred Registered Social Landlords (RSL) for affordable housing developments in the District. Hastoe Housing Association being the rural specialist for the district. The Director of Housing then introduced the representatives from Hastoe Housing, John Lefever (Regional Head of Development) and Ulrike Maccariello (Senior Development Officer) who gave an outline of Hastoe HA and how Hastoe undertakes rural developments.

Hastoe is a small Housing Association who is a specialist in rural housing. They operate across East Anglia, South and South West England. They are based in Essex. So far they have completed over 1000 new properties in villages. They use one Development Officer per scheme so that they see a scheme through from start to finish. Development Officers are specialists in rural exception sites and place a high emphasis on community liaison and communication. They work in liaison with Parish Councils who want to address their local housing needs. The land values  would be above agricultural value but a lot lower than open market value. The ideal site would be greenfield, outside but adjoining the village boundary with vehicular and pedestrian access. They would carry out a Housing Needs Survey following discussions with Parish Councils, and the results discussed with them. Once the “Housing Needs” are established they would identify the mix and tenure in conjunction with the Parish and District Authority.

Preliminary designs will be discussed with the Parish Council and the District’s Planning Department and amended where necessary. They will then carry out pre-planning application public consultation events and amend where necessary and feasible.

Finished projects will either have rented housing or shared ownership (‘New Build Homebuy’).

Hastoe is willing to give a presentation to Parish Councils and could organise independent advice from the Essex Rural Housing Enabler and undertake site evaluations all with no obligations to the Parish Council.

The Chairman thanked the Hastoe officers for their presentation and asked for any questions from the meeting.

County Councillor G McEwen was encouraged by their comments on working with Parish Councils for the local people, but could see people from other areas wanting to come to these local developments. How would Hastoe ensure that they do not go in front of local people?

The Director of Housing answered that Hastoe do not decide who moved into the properties, nominations are made by the District Council. If the applicant is not connected to the village then they will not be considered.

District Councillor Mrs Sartin asked if the proposed developments would stand alone or as part of another development.

Ulrike Maccariello replied that they were stand alone developments as any other developments would not be exclusively for local needs.

A Nazeing Councillor commented that if a person got work in a village and obtained a tenancy, what would happen if they lost that job? Would they still be able to stay in their house?

John Lefever explained that they would have an assured tenancy, (effectively a “home for life”) and that they would not lose the tenancy if they changed jobs.

Councillor Knapman asked about selling on a property, if they have an 80% equity share, how could they afford to move on.

Ulrike Maccariello replied that shared owners would not always an 80% equity share, which was quite high. It may be that Hastoe would purchase 40% (of the 80%) and that they sold the remaining 40% to another local buyer.

Councillor Morgan commented that they had a rural scheme at Matching Tye and he highly recommended the scheme to the meeting. The member from Moreton, Bobbingworth and the Lavers also recommended this scheme to the meeting.

Councillor Church (Abbess, Beauchamp and Berners Roding) asked if these houses could be made available for carers.

Ulrike Maccariello said they could, but only if the person had a local connection to the village.

The representative from Buckhurst Hill Parish Council asked if it was possible to arrange a visit to one of their sites so that they could see for themselves the layout and types of building that were erected for one of these schemes. John Lefever said they would be delighted to arrange such a trip for any interested Councillors.

The Chairman brought the item to a close and thanked the representatives from Hastoe Housing Association for their informative presentation and for answering the Committee’s questions so fully.