Affordable Rural Housing
From Norfolk RCC
Contents |
The Rural Housing Enabler
The aim of the Rural Housing Enabler is to increase the provision of affordable housing for local people in rural communities across Norfolk.
Types of Affordable Housing
There are two main types of affordable housing the Rural Housing Enabler is involved in:
Social rented accommodation- whereby a household rents a property from a Housing Association. The rents are set according to Government guidelines so they are affordable. Typically a household will be paying between £50 and £75 per week depending on the size of the home.
New Build Home Buy- whereby a household purchases a share in a home from a Housing Association using a mortgage and pays rent to the Housing Association on the portion of the unsold equity. The initial share purchased is usually 50% of the total value of the home, but it can be higher or lower. In rural communities below 3,000 in population, the maximum percentage of a shared ownership home a household can purchase is 80%. This is to ensure the home will always remain within the affordable housing sector and not be lost to the open market.
Provision of Affordable Housing
Housing Associations are now the main providers of affordable housing, rather than Local Authorities. The role of the Local Authorities is now more strategic; they are responsible for ensuring planning applications conform to planning policy and for allocating households to vacant affordable housing. Each Local Authority in Norfolk holds a Common Housing Register that lists details of households in affordable housing need. In order to be considered for vacant affordable housing, households must apply to the Housing Register within the Local Authority they wish to be rehoused in. Most housing developments are undertaken by private developers on sites allocated for housing development within the development boundary of cities, towns and villages. On these sites, an element of affordable housing will be provided through negotiation with the Local Authority, which will be handed over to a Housing Association to manage. Local Authorities usually ask for 30-40% of the homes developed on such sites to be affordable housing. Households considered to be in the greatest housing need will be offered the properties on these developments first, regardless of whether they are local or not.
Exceptions sites
In small rural communities, affordable housing can also be developed on 'exceptions sites' that are located outside of the current development boundary of a village. The only type of housing development that should be allowed on an 'exceptions site' is affordable housing for local need. A section 106 Agreement, incorporating a Local Lettings Agreement, is attached to the planning application on an 'exceptions site' development to ensure that the homes will remain affordable and for local people in perpetuity. Any planning application for an 'exceptions site' development must usually be supported by a local Housing Needs Survey, as performed by Rural Housing Enablers. The value of a Housing Needs Survey is that the report will identify households in need of affordable housing locally that are not on the Housing Register, as well as those that are. As well as this, a Housing Needs Survey report identifies the following: - The type of affordable housing required by local people (house, bungalow etc) - The tenure of affordable housing required by local people (social rent, shared ownership etc) - The size of affordable housing required by local people (2, 3 bedroomed etc) - Whether there is local support from parishioners for a small affordable housing development for local people