Thurlestone Parish Community-led Housing Initiative
One of the main objectives of the Neighbourhood Plan is to redress our present age imbalance and to achieve this, the parish needs to have a variety of housing that younger people can afford. We already have a high proportion of affordable rental properties in Thurlestone village (47 in total), but the cost of open market housing in the parish is still beyond the reach of most young local people. Like elsewhere in the south-west, people retiring to the area from the more affluent areas of the country and second homeowners have forced housing prices up, so they no longer reflect the average local income. This is why the Neighbourhood Plan supports Community-led Housing.
What is Community-led Housing?
Community-led Housing is discounted housing for local people who meet the parish Local Connection eligibility criteria to be able to get a foot on the property ladder. This is made possible by grant funding from central government. The Community Housing Fund is specifically for parishes such as our own that have a high number of second homes and SHDC has been allocated £1.88m to help facilitate such schemes. There is also grant funding available from Homes England. To ensure that it is retained as Community-led Housing in perpetuity and occupied as a principal residence, each dwelling will be subject to a Section 106 Agreement.
Who is eligible for Community-led Housing?
Only people who are registered with Help to Buy South and who meet the parish Local Connection criteria will be eligible. In January 2019, the Parish Council held an Open Forum/Workshop on Community-led Housing (see below) at which six eligible households were identified - of whom, three were 3rd generation families and one was 2nd generation, and all four households have immediate family living in the parish. Another two households had lived and/or worked in the parish more than five years and had children attending the local school. Helping these families get on the property ladder is an important way of ensuring the future sustainability of the parish and securing our services and facilities.
Where will the Community-led Housing be built and will I have a say?
The initiative relies on finding landowners who are prepared to sell their land well below the market rate, at £10k per plot. This means that the land offered is likely to lie outside settlements, as the land within a settlement has a higher commercial value. The site will also require planning permission. In terms of location, the Neighbourhood Plan supports a site that will enhance or maintain the vitality of a village community and the parish as a whole; while the District’s Joint Local Plan requires the housing to be located adjoining or very near to an existing settlement on land that would not otherwise be released for housing and hence known as ‘a rural exception site’. You will be able to have a say in where the housing will be built prior to and in the course of the planning application process.
Community Housing Group
The members of the Community Housing Group who are helping to progress this initiative are Jess Wellens, Emma Richards, Joe Arafa, Hannah Quiggins, Caroline Hodges, Paul Gunning, Lewis Durant and Cllr Sue Crowther (Chair of the Neighbourhood Plan Committee and Thurlestone Parish Councillor). Jess is leading the Group and her email address is [email protected].
Open Forum / Workshop on Monday 28 January 2019
On Monday 28 January 2019 there was an Open Forum / Workshop in the Parish Hall to take this initiative forward.
This was an opportunity for those attending to discuss and comment on the scale and design of the development, and possible sites within the parish, including two sites already under consideration – one at West Buckland and another at Buckland Park Farm, North Upton. These topics were discussed in small groups around several tables and everyone had the opportunity to discuss and raise questions about all the topics. A questionnaire was also circulated to obtain household and local connection details from those interested in participating in the initiative.
The purpose of the Open Forum / Workshop was to:
Please use the buttons below to access the following:
What is Community-led Housing?
Community-led Housing is discounted housing for local people who meet the parish Local Connection eligibility criteria to be able to get a foot on the property ladder. This is made possible by grant funding from central government. The Community Housing Fund is specifically for parishes such as our own that have a high number of second homes and SHDC has been allocated £1.88m to help facilitate such schemes. There is also grant funding available from Homes England. To ensure that it is retained as Community-led Housing in perpetuity and occupied as a principal residence, each dwelling will be subject to a Section 106 Agreement.
Who is eligible for Community-led Housing?
Only people who are registered with Help to Buy South and who meet the parish Local Connection criteria will be eligible. In January 2019, the Parish Council held an Open Forum/Workshop on Community-led Housing (see below) at which six eligible households were identified - of whom, three were 3rd generation families and one was 2nd generation, and all four households have immediate family living in the parish. Another two households had lived and/or worked in the parish more than five years and had children attending the local school. Helping these families get on the property ladder is an important way of ensuring the future sustainability of the parish and securing our services and facilities.
Where will the Community-led Housing be built and will I have a say?
The initiative relies on finding landowners who are prepared to sell their land well below the market rate, at £10k per plot. This means that the land offered is likely to lie outside settlements, as the land within a settlement has a higher commercial value. The site will also require planning permission. In terms of location, the Neighbourhood Plan supports a site that will enhance or maintain the vitality of a village community and the parish as a whole; while the District’s Joint Local Plan requires the housing to be located adjoining or very near to an existing settlement on land that would not otherwise be released for housing and hence known as ‘a rural exception site’. You will be able to have a say in where the housing will be built prior to and in the course of the planning application process.
Community Housing Group
The members of the Community Housing Group who are helping to progress this initiative are Jess Wellens, Emma Richards, Joe Arafa, Hannah Quiggins, Caroline Hodges, Paul Gunning, Lewis Durant and Cllr Sue Crowther (Chair of the Neighbourhood Plan Committee and Thurlestone Parish Councillor). Jess is leading the Group and her email address is [email protected].
Open Forum / Workshop on Monday 28 January 2019
On Monday 28 January 2019 there was an Open Forum / Workshop in the Parish Hall to take this initiative forward.
This was an opportunity for those attending to discuss and comment on the scale and design of the development, and possible sites within the parish, including two sites already under consideration – one at West Buckland and another at Buckland Park Farm, North Upton. These topics were discussed in small groups around several tables and everyone had the opportunity to discuss and raise questions about all the topics. A questionnaire was also circulated to obtain household and local connection details from those interested in participating in the initiative.
The purpose of the Open Forum / Workshop was to:
- Help identify the number of people with a parish local connection who may be eligible for the project in order to decide the scale, type and mix of housing needed.
- Provide an opportunity for those attending to discuss and comment on the scale, design, mix and possible siting of the proposed housing.
Please use the buttons below to access the following:
A report summarising the findings of the workshop was presented at the meeting of the Parish Council on Monday 4 March 2019.
The findings were subsequently presented and discussed in detail at the public quarterly meeting of the Neighbourhood Plan Advisory Group on 12 March 2019. For the Minutes of the meeting click here.
Annual Parish Meeting on Monday 1 April 2019
This meeting was devoted to an update about the Community-led Housing initiative. For PowerPoint presentation click here.
Annual Meeting of the Parish Council on Monday 13 May 2019
At this meeting parish councillors were updated about a meeting held at Follaton House on 12 April between SHDC Community Housing officer Rob Ellis (RE), Ward Cllr Judy Pearce, Jess Wellens and Cllr Sue Crowther (SC).
Informal Meeting with SHDC on Thursday 16 May 2019
Those eligible for the scheme who have already registered with the Community Housing Group and Help to Buy SW attended an informal meeting with SHDC Community Housing officers, Rob Ellis and Tom Morris. The meeting was requested by the officers to discuss more detailed financial aspects of the scheme with the prospective purchasers, such as (a) project viability and ultimate house selling prices to ensure they are affordable (b) Homes England potential and (c) the development programme.
June - September 2019
By the end of June SHDC had assembled a project management and design team, and commissioned ecological and topographical surveys of the West Buckland site.
On 30 August SHDC provided the following update, which was relayed to the Parish Council meeting on 9 September:
September 2019 Update
The Option Agreement between SHDC and Bantham Estate has still not been signed and the likelihood of SHDC progressing a planning application and pre-application public consultation in late October is therefore in doubt.
For the Parish Council’s Public Announcement dated 24 September regarding the West Buckland site, please click here.
Given the present status of the initiative, the location of the proposed Community-led Housing was discussed at the following two public meetings:
Neighbourhood Plan Committee meeting on Tuesday 1 October 2019
At this meeting it was announced that on account of objections received by the Bantham Estate from residents of West Buckland (WB), the Estate has suggested an alternative site for community-led housing on the field opposite Bantham shop. At this stage there is no further information about the proposed site. The West Buckland site has not been removed altogether, but the Estate does not want to upset local residents in West Buckland by offering a site for which there is not universal support. Members of the public were invited to ask questions and make comments on the three possible locations for the community-led housing: West Buckland, Buckland Park Farm (North Upton) and Bantham.
Parish Council Meeting on Monday 7 October 2019
The meeting was preceded by a public session to discuss a summary of the comments obtained on 1 October for each of the three sites and to allow members of the public to make further comments. Councillors had already reviewed the comments in full. At the meeting that followed, Councillors resolved to proceed to make a planning application for the Buckland Park Farm site since the Bantham Estate had decided not to progress the West Buckland site at this time, the District had pulled their people off the project, and there had been no public consultation on the Bantham site.
[See the Parish Council’s October Minutes for more details]
Post - October 2019
Annual Parish Meeting on Monday 1 April 2019
This meeting was devoted to an update about the Community-led Housing initiative. For PowerPoint presentation click here.
Annual Meeting of the Parish Council on Monday 13 May 2019
At this meeting parish councillors were updated about a meeting held at Follaton House on 12 April between SHDC Community Housing officer Rob Ellis (RE), Ward Cllr Judy Pearce, Jess Wellens and Cllr Sue Crowther (SC).
- RE had been informed by SC of the number of people in the parish who are eligible for community-led housing and that the Bantham Estate had agreed to sell SHDC six plots for community-led housing at £10,000 per plot, with no open market housing.
- RE had confirmed that the project could go ahead as a community land trust or through the Parish Council, the latter being the preferred route for SHDC.
- SHDC would now carry out the initial feasibility studies of the preferred site in West Buckland, focusing on highways, landscape and ecology. SHDC is keen to get started, because the ecology survey needs to start in spring and continue until autumn. They also need to appoint a project team, including architects and highways consultants, and are aiming at putting in a planning application towards the end of this year.
- RE would also start discussions with the Estate about the Option Agreement for SHDC to buy the land in West Buckland, subject to obtaining planning permission for community-led housing.
Informal Meeting with SHDC on Thursday 16 May 2019
Those eligible for the scheme who have already registered with the Community Housing Group and Help to Buy SW attended an informal meeting with SHDC Community Housing officers, Rob Ellis and Tom Morris. The meeting was requested by the officers to discuss more detailed financial aspects of the scheme with the prospective purchasers, such as (a) project viability and ultimate house selling prices to ensure they are affordable (b) Homes England potential and (c) the development programme.
June - September 2019
By the end of June SHDC had assembled a project management and design team, and commissioned ecological and topographical surveys of the West Buckland site.
On 30 August SHDC provided the following update, which was relayed to the Parish Council meeting on 9 September:
- The Bantham Estate has not yet signed the Option Agreement but part of the delay is due to the Estate discovering that West Buckland Farmhouse had a lease over the proposed site. In the event, the lease had been surrendered, so the Option Agreement can now proceed, once the Community Housing officer returns from annual leave.
- Harrison Sutton Architects are working on the concept design drawings for 6 houses – 4 x 3 bed and 2 x 2 bed houses. The drawings will be made available at the pre-application public consultation, which it is anticipated will take place in late October.
- As there will be no open market housing on the site, we are in a good position to qualify for the Homes England grant in addition to the Community Housing Fund, which is currently being used to pay for the topographic and ecological surveys. The Homes England grant will pay for the infrastructure.
- The site adjoining West Buckland remains SHDC’s preferred site because it complies with their rural exception site policy in the Joint Local Plan. This requires the site to be adjoining or very near to an existing settlement.
- The AONB Unit and Landscaping planners at SHDC are supportive of the scheme and consider that it will be a sensitive, high quality development – a flagship project.
September 2019 Update
The Option Agreement between SHDC and Bantham Estate has still not been signed and the likelihood of SHDC progressing a planning application and pre-application public consultation in late October is therefore in doubt.
For the Parish Council’s Public Announcement dated 24 September regarding the West Buckland site, please click here.
Given the present status of the initiative, the location of the proposed Community-led Housing was discussed at the following two public meetings:
Neighbourhood Plan Committee meeting on Tuesday 1 October 2019
At this meeting it was announced that on account of objections received by the Bantham Estate from residents of West Buckland (WB), the Estate has suggested an alternative site for community-led housing on the field opposite Bantham shop. At this stage there is no further information about the proposed site. The West Buckland site has not been removed altogether, but the Estate does not want to upset local residents in West Buckland by offering a site for which there is not universal support. Members of the public were invited to ask questions and make comments on the three possible locations for the community-led housing: West Buckland, Buckland Park Farm (North Upton) and Bantham.
Parish Council Meeting on Monday 7 October 2019
The meeting was preceded by a public session to discuss a summary of the comments obtained on 1 October for each of the three sites and to allow members of the public to make further comments. Councillors had already reviewed the comments in full. At the meeting that followed, Councillors resolved to proceed to make a planning application for the Buckland Park Farm site since the Bantham Estate had decided not to progress the West Buckland site at this time, the District had pulled their people off the project, and there had been no public consultation on the Bantham site.
[See the Parish Council’s October Minutes for more details]
Post - October 2019
- On 7 November 2019 there was a meeting between the Community Housing Group, local residents and the Bantham Estate at which it was made clear that (1) there were residents who supported the West Buckland site, and (2) prospective homeowners would favour West Buckland or Bantham over Buckland Park Farm because they are nearer amenities.
- On 12 November 2019 the Community Housing Group and local residents attended a meeting with SHDC’s Tom Morrison (TM) to consider setting up a Community Housing Trust. TM had experience of setting up a Community Housing Trust at Stoke Gabriel, it had taken three years and stressed it was extremely hard work. The advantage of the Parish Council being involved is that it already has systems in place, e.g. to deal with funding.
- On 21 November 2019 the Bantham Estate held a quarterly meeting for local residents at which the Bantham site was discussed. The actual size of the plot and design were not clarified, but it was confirmed that the car park for the shop would be the subject of a separate planning application. The meeting was attended by Cllr Williams who updated the Parish Council on 2 December. [See Parish Council December Minutes for details]
- On 24 December 2019 SHDC’s Community Housing Officer informed the Parish Council that the Bantham Estate had withdrawn the West Buckland site in favour of the Bantham site. SHDC had already undertaken initial highways, ecology and planning assessments of the site and had concluded that that site was the only viable site currently available. The Estate was willing to enter into an option agreement immediately.
- On 6 January 2020 the Buckland Park Farm site was withdrawn and the Parish Council initiated enquiries about other suitable sites in the parish in order to ensure a level playing field. Two new sites were offered close to West Buckland and an alternative site in Bantham was suggested on land behind the Sloop. All were rural exception sites.
- On 30 January 2020 there was a meeting between Cllrs Munn and Crowther SHDC officers and Ward Cllr Judy Pearce. It was impressed on officers that this was a parish initiative (not a district initiative) and that any site would have to win support in the community if it was to be promoted by the Parish Council. They proposed the three new sites whilst recognising that the two West Buckland sites had certain topographical issues and the Bantham site would depend on the Estate.
- On 13 February 2020 a short meeting took place on site behind the Sloop between Cllrs Munn and Crowther, Jess Wellens of the Community Housing Group, Nicholas Johnston and Ryan Hooper of the Bantham Estate. Mr Johnston was asked whether he would consider this alternative site as it would be less prominent in the landscape, more consistent with the built development of the settlement and more likely to find favour with Councillors and local residents.
- On 11 March 2020 - notwithstanding the Councillors’ proposal - Mr Johnston confirmed that since SHDC can see the merit in supporting the site opposite the shop in Bantham, there seemed no point considering another site. The Estate is happy for the Community Housing Group to continue progressing the site or would be happy to lead promotion of the site itself through the planning process. [Note: the Community Housing Group comes under the umbrella of the Parish Council]
- An article was published in the June-July issue of Village Voice outlining the two alternative sites (shown on the plan below) that had been offered: the field adjoining Bantham opposite the shop and another along the lane adjoining the southern boundary of West Buckland. A third site close to West Buckland had been withdrawn.
- SHDC had reviewed both the Bantham and West Buckland sites and a copy of their assessment, together with a concept design drawing for the Bantham site, was made available on this website.
Residents’ comments on sites
418 leaflets were distributed within the parish and 102 responses were received. 44 were collected from the Bantham shop and 58 from the Thurlestone shop.
Please use the button below to access the comments.
418 leaflets were distributed within the parish and 102 responses were received. 44 were collected from the Bantham shop and 58 from the Thurlestone shop.
- 80 households favoured the Bantham site
- 12 households favoured the West Buckland site
- 10 households favoured neither site
Please use the button below to access the comments.
The most repeated comment in favour of the Bantham site was that it would make the village more year-round and help sustain the shop/cafe and pub. Concerns about the West Buckland site focused on the undeveloped, steep terrain.
The Parish Council also obtained initial ‘without prejudice’ comments from an independent quantity surveyor and the Manager of the South Devon AONB Unit to help make their decision.
At the their meeting on 6 July 2020, having considered environmental, topographical, ecological and highways issues, as well as residents' comments and the likely development costs, the Parish Council decided to promote the Bantham site for Community led Housing. [See the Parish Council’s July Minutes for more details]
The Bantham Site
Following the Parish Council’s decision, Community-led Housing Updates are provided at the monthly Parish Council meetings (PCMs) and are summarized below:
PCM on 5 October 2020 – It was reported that the new Homes England grants for affordable housing had been announced in September, but focused on mainstream affordable housing – affordable rental and shared ownership housing – rather than discounted housing, like ours. Shared ownership (with the District or Parish Council) would mean that the properties would be more affordable to buy, but it was unlikely they could be guaranteed to remain affordable in perpetuity, which would defeat our objective..
PCM on 2 November 2020 – Councillors Crowther and Williams had met SHDC community housing officers and project engineers on site who are continuing to assess the site’s viability. Much will depend on the infrastructure costs, as there is no Homes England grant available for infrastructure. This initial development work is funded by the Community Housing Fund. Other possible sources of funding are also being explored and there is a good possibility that the scheme may qualify for the government’s proposed First Homes grant in late 2021/early 2022. If so, then that would help bring the prices down. In the meantime, provided the houses remain affordable to those eligible, depending on the infrastructure costs, SHDC will embark on the detailed design and planning process. This will, hopefully, begin in December, with a view to making a detailed planning application in May 2021.
If you have any comments or queries about the Community-led Housing initiative, please contact us by using this Contact Form.
The Parish Council also obtained initial ‘without prejudice’ comments from an independent quantity surveyor and the Manager of the South Devon AONB Unit to help make their decision.
At the their meeting on 6 July 2020, having considered environmental, topographical, ecological and highways issues, as well as residents' comments and the likely development costs, the Parish Council decided to promote the Bantham site for Community led Housing. [See the Parish Council’s July Minutes for more details]
The Bantham Site
Following the Parish Council’s decision, Community-led Housing Updates are provided at the monthly Parish Council meetings (PCMs) and are summarized below:
PCM on 5 October 2020 – It was reported that the new Homes England grants for affordable housing had been announced in September, but focused on mainstream affordable housing – affordable rental and shared ownership housing – rather than discounted housing, like ours. Shared ownership (with the District or Parish Council) would mean that the properties would be more affordable to buy, but it was unlikely they could be guaranteed to remain affordable in perpetuity, which would defeat our objective..
PCM on 2 November 2020 – Councillors Crowther and Williams had met SHDC community housing officers and project engineers on site who are continuing to assess the site’s viability. Much will depend on the infrastructure costs, as there is no Homes England grant available for infrastructure. This initial development work is funded by the Community Housing Fund. Other possible sources of funding are also being explored and there is a good possibility that the scheme may qualify for the government’s proposed First Homes grant in late 2021/early 2022. If so, then that would help bring the prices down. In the meantime, provided the houses remain affordable to those eligible, depending on the infrastructure costs, SHDC will embark on the detailed design and planning process. This will, hopefully, begin in December, with a view to making a detailed planning application in May 2021.
If you have any comments or queries about the Community-led Housing initiative, please contact us by using this Contact Form.