17 November 2006
What is today all about?
The Rural Housing Trust is planning to build a small scheme of affordable houses for local people and is here today to exhibit the plans for the scheme and to answer questions about it. Before a planning application is made, it is possible for us to modify the plans to take account of any comments received.
Once a planning application has been made, there will still be opportunities for comments to be submitted direct to the Planning Department of Guildford Borough Council.
Who is behind this proposal?
This is a joint initiative by West Horsley Parish Council and The Rural Housing Trust. We were asked by East Horsley and West Horsley Parish Councils some time ago to investigate whether there was a need for this sort of development. Our housing needs survey, conducted in July 2004, showed that a development of 25 dwellings would go some way to meeting needs among local people who have been priced out of the private market.
The Trust is a registered charity and is the country’s leading developer of affordable housing in small villages. In Surrey, we have built schemes in 10 villages from Witley in the west of the county to Newdigate in the east.
What sort of houses do you build?
Most of our schemes contain between 8 and 14 houses and they are all for rent or for shared ownership and we usually build 2 and 3 bedroom houses. They can never be sold on the open market and they are reserved in perpetuity for people with a strong local connection. We can put you in touch with other villages in Surrey where you might like to see examples of our work.
Who will manage the houses?
A registered social landlord will take over the rented properties once they are built. The Rural Housing Trust will retain part ownership of the shared ownership houses.
Who are the houses for?
They will be for people who are unable to afford to buy in West Horsley, who cannot find rented accommodation and who have a strong local connection to the village and the community.
What is a “local connection”?
A “local connection” includes the following:-
- Currently living in the village and able to demonstrate several years’ residence. Active participation in the local community strengthens the case.
- Previously resident in the village, unable to afford to move back, having strong family and social links with the village.
- A need to live in the village to be close to relatives who need some family support.
- Currently employed or about to take up employment in the village.
What if there is no one in need? Do you bring in people from Brentwood or further away?
If a vacancy occurs in one of the houses and no one from the village with the qualifying connection is in need at that time, then applicants with similar connections to neighbouring parishes will be considered. The names of parishes close to West Horsley will be agreed with the Parish Council and will be specified in the planning agreement. It is very rare that we have to look for applicants from outside the Parish in which the development has been built.
What safeguards are there?
Before planning permission is granted, we will enter into a legally enforceable planning agreement with the Local Authority to ensure that the houses are allocated to local people and are never sold on the open market.
Timescale:
Funding has already been allocated to this scheme by the Housing Corporation. A planning application will be submitted to Guildford Borough Council in the next few months. If planning permission is granted, we hope to start building early in 2007 and would expect to complete the development in late 2007/early 2008.
Proposed details of the development:
A mix of one-bed flats and two-bed houses.
For further information, please contact
Jane Davis, Area Programme Manager, The Rural Housing Trust, Room 101, Wolfelands, High Street, Westerham, Kent TN16 1NQ. Tel: 01959 569001
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