A Rural Housing Needs survey was carried out during February & March 2017 by the District Council as part of a wider countywide programme to identify the housing needs of residents living in, or with a close connection, to rural villages.

Survey forms were delivered to 69 residential dwellings and 1 business premises in the village. Sixteen responses were received which equates to a return rate of 23% which is a reasonable response rate for a postal survey.

None of the 17 responses indicated that they had, or knew of a close family member that had, a housing need which could not be met by the housing market.

A majority (59%) of respondents felt that there was adequate housing within the village but a similar amount (65%) indicated that they would support the development of a small number of homes to meet the needs of local people.

Question / Yes / No
Do you think that there is a lack of adequate housing in the village? / 7 / 10
Would you be supportive of a small number of homes being built to meet the needs of local people? / 11 / 6

It is clear from the responses that even where respondents have felt that there was adequate housing in the village some would still support a small scheme if homes were developed to meet the needs of local people.

One respondent highlighted that Wilson was a small village with mostly high value properties. The sale of the council houses in the village had removed a housing option for local people with one respondent stating that they felt that the village would benefit from a few “affordable” houses to help young people. There was however some concern that there seemed to be a shortage of any affordable building land within the village that could provide such homes.

The survey asked households to indicate the type of properties that they believed were needed in the village. It should be noted that respondents could indicate more than one type of property.

Type of housing / Number of responses
No further homes required / 6
Homes for young people / 3
Small family homes (1-2 bedrooms) / 6
Large family homes (3 or more bedrooms) / 3
Homes for single people / 3
Homes for elderly people / 2
Homes for people with disabilities / 1
Other (see below) / 1
Did not answer / 6

One applicant indicated that more reasonably priced 2 and 3 bed properties were required.

The responses indicated that there was a general consensus that Wilson was a sought after location with a friendly atmosphere and a nice place to live but that a lack of facilities (shops school, public transport) was a downside to village life.

The National Planning Policy Framework document identifies affordable housing as social rented, affordable rented and intermediate housing, provided to eligible households whose needs are not met by the market. Eligibility is determined with regard to local incomes and local house prices. Affordable housing should include provisions to remain at an affordable price for future eligible households or for the subsidy to be recycled for alternative affordable housing provision.

Affordable housing includes -

Social rented housing is owned by local authorities and private registered providers (as defined in section 80 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008), for which guideline target rents are determined through the national rent regime. It may also be owned by other persons and provided under equivalent rental arrangements to the above, as agreed with the local authority or with the Homes and Communities Agency.

Affordable rented housing is let by local authorities or private registered providers of social housing to households who are eligible for social rented housing. Affordable Rent is subject to rent controls that require a rent of no more than 80% of the local market rent (including service charges, where applicable).

Intermediate housing is homes for sale and rent provided at a cost above social rent, but below market levels subject to the criteria in the Affordable Housing definition above. These can include shared equity (shared ownership and equity loans), other low cost homes for sale and intermediate rent, but not affordable rented housing.

Homes that do not meet the above definition of affordable housing, such as “low cost market” housing, may not be considered as affordable housing for planning purposes.

Wilson is a village which is situated within the Breedon Parish. To obtain a full picture of housing need in this parish this report along with the reports covering Breedon on the Hill & Tonge should also be consulted.

The results contained in this report relate solely to the responses received from the residents in Wilson.