New Forest Rural Housing Development Strategy

Draft 1

  1. Foreward – Endorsed by Chair of the Local Strategic Partnership, Chair of New Forest Committee and Portfolio Holder for Housing.
  1. Executive Summary
  1. Introduction

Geographically, the New Forest is a predominantly rural district. Much of the area is sparsely populated and large areas are subject to national nature conservation and landscape designations to protect them. In June 2004, the decision to make the New Forest a National Park was announced by the Government. The National Park Authority will be in place from April 2005 as a shadow Authority, and will be fully functioning by April 2006.

The New Forest forms the core of the New Forest District, with the District’s main centres of population lying around the edges. To the west and east of the District lie the growing conurbations of Bournemouth and Southampton. Whilst most of the population of the District live in the main towns, a significant number live in the villages. House prices are very high throughout the District, but the problem is particularly felt in the villages where there is little affordable housing and turnover of the few affordable homes is slow. Although in quantitative terms the greatest need for affordable housing is in the main towns and larger villages, there is concern that the needs of the rural communities should not be overlooked when addressing housing needs within the District.

The proposal to prepare a rural housing development strategy was canvassed amongst a wide range of stakeholders including the parish councils of the New Forest. The proposal has been endorsed by the Local Strategic Partnership and is one of the targets of the Community Strategy.

The Rural Housing Development Strategy is clearly aligned with the Strategy for the New Forest 2003. The consultation regarding the proposals contained within the latter produced strong approval for the proposals to increase the provision of affordable housing.

The strategy has been developed in partnership with stakeholders who are represented on the Steering Group. The membership is listed in appendix 7. Further consultation has taken place (add once the consultation exercise has been completed and amendments made)

The area covered by this strategy is New Forest District rather than the National Park.

The focus of the strategy is the rural areas and small settlements with a population of less than 3000.

Larger towns, such as Ringwood and Fordingbridge are outside the scope of this strategy.

The strategy concentrates on rural affordable housing. Affordable housing is defined as housing provided, usually with subsidy, for people who are unable to meet their housing requirements in the general housing market due to the affordability gap. This is the gap between the price that a household can afford to pay for a suitable dwelling and the income that is needed to pay for that dwelling.

Affordable rented housing is usually owned by a Registered Social Landlord (RSL), normally a Housing Association, and rented at a weekly rent that is affordable to people on low wages. The other alternative is Shared Ownership or Shared Equity housing in which the house is owned partly by the resident and partly by the RSL.

To date most affordable housing provided in rural villages is for rentand is provided for local people in perpetuity. This is written in a Section 106 agreement as part of the planning consent.

However there is an increasing demand for intermediate affordable housing with a tenure of shared ownership or shared equity. This is seen as a way of getting on the first rung of the property ladder to which many people aspire. This type of accommodation would also be for local people in perpetuity.

  1. Aims and Objectives

The aims and objectives of the strategy are to address the issues that are set out in section 7.

  • To increase the provision of affordable housing in rural settlements of the New Forest by attracting more Housing Corporation funding to the District
  • To make use of resources for rural affordable housing in the most effective way by prioritising where affordable housing is developed
  • To increase the deliverability of rural affordable housing
  • To guide the work of the Rural Housing Enabler to ensure best use of their time
  • To create an environment of partnership working between all the stakeholders involved in the provision of affordable housing
  • To encourage Parish Councils and local communities to help identify need and engage with the process of developing affordable housing in their parish
  • To link rural affordable housing with other benefits for the community
  • To monitor the success of affordable housing development through post scheme evaluations and satisfaction surveys

5. Links with other strategies in the New Forest

This strategy builds on rural affordable housing issues highlighted in a number of New Forest strategies. These include the New Forest Committee’s Strategy for the New Forest, 2003; the New Forest District Council’s Housing Strategy 2004-07; and the Local Strategic Partnership’s Community Strategy 2004. Short extracts are shown below and more information from these strategies can be found in appendix 1.

  1. Regional and National Strategies

The shortage of affordable rural housing is discussed in a number of regional and national strategies with either a housing or rural brief.

These are summarised in Appendix 1.


7. Background

New Forest District Council was one of the first Council’s nationally to operate ‘rural exceptions policies’.

The NFDC introduced this policy in mid-1985. This was in advance of the Government Planning Guidance accepting this as a means of achieving affordable housing in rural areas to meet a local need.

Sites came forward from landowners and the local community on an ad-hoc basis, as opportunities arose. At the time no detailed survey work on levels of need in rural parishes was being undertaken. The District Council's Housing Register was used as an indicator of need.

Funding for schemes was not usually a problem. There was not as much competition for resources as now, as not many other local authorities were operating such policies. NFDC was seen by the Government and the Housing Corporation as a good housing authority that could deliver, so the District did very well in funding allocations. They could almost guarantee that they would be able to get funding for any scheme they put forward.

Finding the sites was the main problem. Rather than going out and looking for sites, a pragmatic approach was developed of considering sites suggested to the Council by willing landowners, taking the opportunities as they arose.

Of course not all sites suggested were suitable. In those cases where they were acceptable in environmental terms, well related to existing communities and had support from the Parish Council, schemes were developed.

There has been considerable success in delivering affordable homes in rural villages in the District over the past 15 years.

The designation of the New Forest National Park will bring changes. The new National Park Authority will be the Planning Authority within the National Park area, while New Forest District Council will remain the Housing Authority. With this separation of planning and housing responsibilities it will be very important that the two authorities work closely when addressing the housing needs of New Forest communities.

Government Planning Policy Guidance

Regarding villages, Government Planning Policy Guidance in PPG3 has the following advice on new housing development.

“Only a limited amount of housing can be expected to be accommodated in expanded villages. Whilst occasionally a village could be the basis for a new settlement where, for example, the development accords with the policy of developing in transport corridors or utilises a transport node, most proposals involve providing additional housing either through infill development or peripheral expansion. Since locating significant additional housing in villages may not be a particularly sustainable option, this should be limited to circumstances where:

  • it can be demonstrated that additional housing will support local services, such as schools or shops, which could become unviable without some modest growth;
  • additional houses are needed to meet local needs, such as affordable housing, which will help secure a mixed and balanced community ;
  • the development will be designed sympathetically and laid out in keeping with the character of the village.”

“Rural housing provision may be subject to an 'exceptions' policy. This enables local planning authorities to grant planning permission for land within or adjoining existing villages which would not normally be released for housing in order to provide low-cost housing to meet local needs in perpetuity. Local plans should make clear whether such a policy exists and how it will be applied. “

In July 2003 the Government consulted on proposed changes to the current guidance, which would allow the allocation of specific sites for affordable housing only. The draft guidance stated:

“Affordable housing provision in rural areas may also be supported by allocating sites solely for affordable housing, on land within or adjoining existing villages, which would not otherwise be released for housingand where this would contribute to the attainment of mixed communities. Where this is the case, the affordable housing provided should meet local needs in perpetuity.”

The Rural Housing Enablers

In 2002, the two Rural Housing Enablers for Hampshire were employed, as part of the Countryside Agency’s Rural Housing Enabler Programme. Based with Community Action Hampshire, they are funded by the Countryside Agency, the Housing Corporation and the six rural District/Borough Council’s, including New Forest District Council. Their role is to facilitate an increase in the provision of affordable housing in the rural villages of Hampshire.

In particular their role is to work with Parish Councils to first assist in the process of establishing if there is a need for affordable housing for local people, through a Parish Housing Needs Survey. If a need is established, they then facilitate the development of some housing to meet these needs.

They work with rural communities through the whole process of affordable housing. The role is seen as an ‘honest broker’, operating independently from local authorities and developers, giving the RHE a unique position to engage effectively with the local community as well as the statutory bodies.

In the New Forest District, the RHE is currently actively working with 12 Parish Councils.

8.The Issues

There are a number of challenges that need to be addressed in rural housing for the New Forest.

Shortage of Affordable Houses

There is a shortage of housing within rural communities that is affordable to local people.

The housing need in the District is continuing to rise steadily, primarily due to the demographic trend towards smaller households and the increasing affordability gap between incomes and property prices[1]. To meet the local need around 100 new affordable dwellings per year are needed in rural areas[2]. House prices have escalated over the last 10 years and are well beyond the reach of most local people.[3] The Housing Needs and Market Assessment estimated that home ownership was beyond the reach of 97% of first time buyers.

Furthermore this district-wide analysis masks even greater affordability problems. Some of the rural areas are the most expensive places to live in the District. Many settlements have few or no affordable homes and where there is existing stock, turnover is low.

In addition to the Housing Needs and Market Assessment survey, a number of parish based Housing Needs Surveys have been undertaken by the Hampshire Rural Housing Enablers. These consistently show that only a proportion of people in housing need in rural settlements are registered on the New Forest Homesearch Register. Often people do not register because their need is not immediate, but another reason given is that there is little affordable housing provision in their parish, so people think there is no point registering.

The survey questionnaire does not include a detailed appraisal of individual need. It relies on a respondent’s own appraisal. The Homesearch application does undertake a detailed appraisal of each individual household. There may be a discrepancy between an individual’s own appraisal and that of the NFDC.

Without the parish based Housing Needs Surveys, it was difficult in the past to provide an accurate assessment of housing need on a parish by parish basis. Where the Homesearch Register showed a relatively low level of need, despite anecdotal evidence from the parish, it was often worthwhile undertaking a local Housing Needs Survey to establish a more accurate assessment of need.

The shortage of affordable housing has created difficulties in the employment of key workers such as nurses and teachers as they cannot afford to live in the area.

There is also a shortage of affordable housing available for other local workers who are not currently included in the key worker definition such as Commoners and retained fire fighters.

Specific provision for the needs of keyworkers and Commoners lies outside the scope of this strategy.

Limited Resources

The Strategy also mentions support for small rural towns that provide employment, key services and facilities that support and provide opportunities for surrounding villages and the countryside.

Clearly Housing Corporation resources are limited.

Whilst New Forest District Council has historically provided funding to subsidise new provision, there are increasing demands on these resources. One of the priorities of the Council’s Housing Strategy is “to maximise and make the best use of resources to provide additional affordable homes”.

Historically, new development has been funded by a combination of Registered Social Landlord (RSL) private finance together with subsidy from either the Housing Corporation or the District Council. Provided there is a demonstrable need for the housing, RSLs will continue to invest in new provision. However, additional subsidy is generally needed to ensure that dwellings provided meet the need and are affordable.

The rural villages of the New Forest need to effectively compete for a continued share of resources for new affordable housing. They make an important contribution to the local supply of affordable housing and are critical in ensuring that rural residents on lower incomes have access to affordable housing in their local community.

Difficulty finding suitable sites

Many small rural settlements within the New Forest are designated open countryside with no settlement boundary to mark the limit of the residential area. Most potential sites are therefore exceptions to planning policy. New Forest District Council has a successful history of granting permission to develop rural affordable housing, for people with a local connection, on exception sites.

Planning policies require a sequential approach when considering suitable sites for development. The first sites to be considered for development should be those within existing settlements, and there is a strong presumption against green-field development, particularly in areas subject to national protection – like a National Park. Where possible, sites for affordable housing should be located within settlements; sites adjoining a settlement would be the next preference. While the needs of communities within the New Forest National Park can only be addressed by sites within the National Park, sites outside the National Park should be found to address the needs of communities outside and on the edge of the National Park. Sites within the National Park boundary will be considered only where evidence is shown that there are no other suitable sites to meet a proven need for affordable housing for local people.

Not all potential sites in and around villages are suitable in planning and environmental terms, and the ones that may be suitable may not be made available by the landowner.

Objections may be made by local people to sites being put forward for affordable housing which may put the landowner off selling the land and the parish from supporting the development of the land.

The National Park

The announcement of the decision to make the New Forest a National Park will have an impact on the development of affordable housing. The consideration of suitable sites has already been discussed in the above section.

There may also be an impact caused by the potential separation of the planning function from the housing function within the National Park area as the National Park Authority will become responsible for planning.

It is important that affordable housing is included within the brief of the National Park Authority.

The Development Process

The process of developing a scheme of affordable houses in a small rural settlement is often slow and complex due to its sensitive nature and the number of parties involved, with many potential delays.

This makes schemes costly and difficult to deliver yet the Housing Corporation’s focus in allocating funding is efficiency and deliverabilty.

However despite this, Registered Social Landlords working in partnership with New Forest District Council have been very successful in developing rural schemes. With sufficient resources, the supply in rural areas could be increased.

Sustainability of Rural Communities