Hastoe Housing Association and Waveney District Council officially opened a new affordable housing development for the local people of Southwold on Monday, 20June 2016.
The Town Council agreed to carry out a second Housing Needs Survey (HNS) with a closing date of 7 January 2013.
The Community Action Suffolk Services toolkit was used to produce the survey data.
From the HNS, 89.76% of respondents were in favour of an affordable housing scheme, showing excellent overall support, with 10.23% of the returns indicating that they would not support affordable housing in the parish.
The Southwold HNS of 7 January 2013 received 252 household responses from a total of 1350 of survey forms issued a 18.66 % return rate, with the majority of respondents in favour of a small affordable housing scheme for people with a local connection.
Profile of survey respondents
252 Household Responses
520 Individuals
Greatest number of responses received from those aged between 60-74 years of age
859 Multiple Choice responses received
Out of 252 HNS returned, 21 households responded that they have a current housing need, totalling 43 people.
Out of 252 HNS returned, 11 of those households responded identifying a need for 19 people (with a local connection) wishing to return to or live in the Parish.
This shows a total of 32 households, 62 people in need of affordable housing in Southwold.
The housing scheme, officially opened by Deputy Mayor of Southwold, Cllr Ann Betts, is made up of four properties; 2 x 2 bed flats, 1 x 2 bed house and a 1 x 3 bed house. All properties are rented and built to Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4. The development was built with support from the Homes and Communities Agency and Waveney District Council.
Speaking about the scheme opening, Sue Chalkley, Hastoe’s Chief Executive said: “We are delighted to be delivering these much-needed affordable homes for local people in Southwold. We must thank the HCA and Waveney District Council and Community Action Suffolk for their stellar work in getting this scheme off the ground through to its completion.
“Affordable homes like these, which are also energy efficient and low cost to run, allow people who live or work in our villages to continue to contribute to their communities, bring their children up in security and see the village thrive into the long term.”
Read more about Community Action Suffolk’s Rural Affordable Housing work.
Rural Housing Week: 11-17 July 2016
The aim of the week is to highlight rural housing issues and to showcase housing associations’ innovative solutions for tackling them, supporting rural communities through providing affordable housing. This is an excellent opportunity to shine a spotlight on successful developments that offer a lifeline to local people in our market towns and villages, and to reinforce the message that housing is vital for the survival of rural communities and services. Read more…
