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The Following is thanks to this website. COUNCILLORS TACKLE TURNING THEORY INTO PRACTICE New homes must be both affordable and achievable EAST DEVON’S Councillors are starting to take a long hard look at how they can increase the supply of affordable housing in the district over the next 20 years, over and above those provided in the new town of Cranbrook. In line with the first of the Council’s new corporate objectives*, Members want to deliver a significant increase in the number of affordable homes** to give East Devon’s young families and low-income individuals a chance to buy or rent a suitable property. That’s the theory – but what about the practice? That will be the underlying question when EDDC’s Corporate Overview Committee debates a report from the Council’s Director Environment, Karime Hassan, next week. And there are several other fundamental questions. For example: s If affordable homes should form 40% of the new housing stock built in East Devon, how many new homes in total will need to be built s What forecasts of new house building should be used to drive the mathematics of the debate s Where will the land come from s How can we provide the social, employment and transport infrastructure to service the new homes s And what are the implications for individual towns and communities already considered to be fully saturated with housing Members will make a start on tackling these issues when they look at projections based on what is currently known about Government policies on housing needs – and on planning practice. Taking the ‘worst case scenario’ the figures can seem disconcerting, if not downright mind-blowing. Here are some of the assumptions Members will need to take into account: - The Government’s Regional Spatial Strategy RSS) currently requires the provision of 4,900 new homes in East Devon over the next 20 years, outside of Cranbrook. But it has been estimated that this requirement could double to 9,800 homes – of which 40%, or 3,900, should be ‘Affordable’.
- The Government is also telling local planning authorities they can no longer count ‘windfall’ developments as part of their affordable housing strategy. So, instead of merely insisting that any new housing development that happens to come along must be 40% affordable, EDDC itself must also allocate the sites where affordable homes should be built. That makes the task of building the required homes that much harder.
- There is an assumption that most of the new housing development will take place in urban areas – with only a small proportion in villages or the countryside. That means that the lion’s share of the new affordable housing will be built in one of East Devon’s seven major towns – Axminster, Budleigh Salterton, Exmouth, Honiton, Ottery St Mary, Seaton and Sidmouth.
Based on these assumptions, and including so-called ‘windfall’ developments, EDDC could be faced with the prospect of working with developers to provide a maximum of 12,946 homes in the district up to 2026. Excluding an anticipated 5,598 windfall developments, the figure would be around 7,348. Looking at the picture on a town-by-town basis, it would mean a significant number of new homes being built in these towns. Below (with the proportion of affordable housing in brackets)are the number of homes each town might need to provide, based on the size of each current settlement: · Axminster 564 (226) · Budleigh 444 (178) · Exmouth 3,052 (1,221) · Honiton 1,038 (415) · Ottery 404 (162) · Seaton 630 (252) · Sidmouth 1,216 (486) EDDC’s Portfolio Holder Communities, Councillor Miss Jill Elson, said of the task facing the council: “It doesn’t take a genius to realise that this is a monumental challenge. As Members, we are determined to work out how we can best deliver the homes that all income groups need. When you start to look at any problem, you have to deal with the paper exercise first. That is what we and our officers are doing here. “Once we have looked at the theoretical projections and have then adjusted them to what we believe is a sensible forecast of the likely situation, we can start to look at the practicalities of delivery. The figures quoted in the report may seem fanciful, but they are the baseline from which we must work. No one is suggesting that there is the land to build 1,200 new homes in Sidmouth or the equivalent of a new Cranbrook at Exmouth. “At the moment there is a reality gap between what the figures appear to say we need and what common sense says we can deliver. Our job is to find ways of closing that gap and that is what we will be doing over the coming weeks and months. We wish to build communities that provide not only homes but also the facilities that people need – such as shops, schools, social amenities and medical care. Nobody is pretending that it’s going to be easy, but with determination, hard work and the imagination to find innovative solutions, I’m sure we can achieve our aims”. The report will be considered by EDDC’s Corporate Overview Committee on Thursday 18 October at 6.30 p.m. Ends Editors’ Notes * EDDC’s new Corporate Strategy contains a number of strands, of which improving the supply of Affordable Housing is but one. The other main headings are: ü Encouraging a thriving economy ü Improving recycling rates ü Engaging with young people ü Providing an excellent service for our customers ü Being an inspirational council ** Affordable homes come in various guises, aimed at low-income people with a variety of different means to pay. These range from low-cost homes for purchase to shared ownership or rental properties. For information, please contact: Nick Stephen, Communications Officer on 01395 517559 East Devon District Council, Knowle, Sidmouth, Devon EX10 8HL www.eastdevon.gov.uk
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