Latest update - 20th June 2024
The Hook Hollow, Seend Cleeve, development is now almost complete with all of the rental homes allocated. 1 x 2-bed shared ownership unit, (No 10) is still available for sale here.
It has been some time since the 2019 Seend Rural Housing Needs Survey and we know the Seend housing need situation will have changed. We want to be sure no-one from our community in need of a home misses the opportunity to apply. If you have already applied for an affordable rented home, or you intend to apply, please email the CLT's housing provider partner at: [email protected]. In your communication please give your name, address, reason for needing to live in Seend (your Seend connection) and your existing Homes4Wiltshire registration number, if you already have one.
Seend CLT and Parish Housing Need
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The early research of the Seend's CLT supporters revealed that housing need in Seend is, to a large extent, hidden. We knocked on doors across the parish, Seend, Seend Cleeve, Sells Green and Inmarsh, and found that some parishioners:
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Housing built by Toller Porcorum CLT
(a Dorset parish of 250 people and a 13-page Neighbourhood Plan) |
Do we really need housing?
In the 2015 Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), compiled by the Office of National Statistics, Seend is placed in the top 10% of communities in England for barriers to housing and services. In 2015 we still had a pub and things have not improved as that has closed.
Housing need in our parish of Seend is exactly the same as housing need in many English rural parishes. The current rural housing situation can not be more adequately illuminated than in the Institute of Public Policy Research North's (IPPR North) July 2018 report on fixing the affordable housing crisis in rural England. Baxter D and Murphy L (2018) A new rural settlement: Fixing the affordable housing crisis in rural England, IPPR. www.ippr.org/publications/a-new-rural-settlement
Understandably, people don't like reading extensive socio-economic reports. Baxter and Murphy have kindly provided a 2-page summary. If you have further curiosity you can read the full report of just 36 pages. The Seend resonances are common throughout our rural England of 2019 and the National CLT Network has a manifesto with a view on this. As a member of the National CLT Network, Seend CLT shares and supports this 2-page manifesto which can be accessed below.
Housing need in our parish of Seend is exactly the same as housing need in many English rural parishes. The current rural housing situation can not be more adequately illuminated than in the Institute of Public Policy Research North's (IPPR North) July 2018 report on fixing the affordable housing crisis in rural England. Baxter D and Murphy L (2018) A new rural settlement: Fixing the affordable housing crisis in rural England, IPPR. www.ippr.org/publications/a-new-rural-settlement
Understandably, people don't like reading extensive socio-economic reports. Baxter and Murphy have kindly provided a 2-page summary. If you have further curiosity you can read the full report of just 36 pages. The Seend resonances are common throughout our rural England of 2019 and the National CLT Network has a manifesto with a view on this. As a member of the National CLT Network, Seend CLT shares and supports this 2-page manifesto which can be accessed below.
| 864-national-clt-network-manifesto-.pdf |
Seend Housing Need - 2019 Update
Did you know that a Rural Housing Need Survey was conducted in the Parish of Seend in 2019? The final report can be viewed here.
Can I apply for affordable housing?
Our CLT will start building affordable homes for parish people in late 2021. The CLT is partnered with the White Horse Housing Association (WHHA). Together, the affordable homes we build over the next year will be partially funded from government grant through Homes England.
The homes will be let through Wiltshire Council's Homes 4 Wiltshire service (H4W). The priority for the homes will go to those households with a local connection to Seend. Housing need and how long you have been on the H4W register will also be taken into account.
You may have tried to register with H4W in the past and been advised that you are adequately housed because you are in a private let or living with relatives. Please do not be put off applying again; you can now go on the Open Market Register operated by H4W. This means the you still have a chance to apply for affordable properties in the Parish of Seend if you have a local connection. So, do not delay, apply to join the H4W register at www.homes4wiltshire.co.uk as soon as possible. You can obtain more detailed and up to date information on how to apply for either a shared ownership or rental home here, via information provided by our partner, White Horse Housing Association.
The homes will be let through Wiltshire Council's Homes 4 Wiltshire service (H4W). The priority for the homes will go to those households with a local connection to Seend. Housing need and how long you have been on the H4W register will also be taken into account.
You may have tried to register with H4W in the past and been advised that you are adequately housed because you are in a private let or living with relatives. Please do not be put off applying again; you can now go on the Open Market Register operated by H4W. This means the you still have a chance to apply for affordable properties in the Parish of Seend if you have a local connection. So, do not delay, apply to join the H4W register at www.homes4wiltshire.co.uk as soon as possible. You can obtain more detailed and up to date information on how to apply for either a shared ownership or rental home here, via information provided by our partner, White Horse Housing Association.
2021/22 useful changes to Wiltshire Council's allocation policy
A few months ago (2021/22) Wiltshire Council changed its Allocations Policy to respond to changes in differences in demand for housing in rural and urban areas and in people’s ability to buy a home in the locality where they need to live for work and family reasons. There are many people who cannot and are unlikely ever to be able to afford to purchase a home on the open market in villages like Seend and their surrounding parishes. Therefore the policy now permits households with a need to live in high price rural villages to be admitted to the Housing Register in Band 4 whereas in the past they would have been assessed as being adequately housed and placed in to the Open Market Register instead. The Open Market Register is now solely for customers who are interested in low cost home ownership products such as shared ownership (previously the Open Market Register was used for everyone who could meet their own housing need in the open market e.g. by renting privately.) People living in a private let who need for work or family reasons to live in a high price rural area can now expect the council to consider whether they qualify for the Housing Register. In order to move yourself out of the Open Market Register and in to Band 4 please contact Homes 4 Wiltshire. Evidence will be required of the need to live in Seend. The exact wording of this new criteria in Band 4 is as follows:-
New Build Rural Exception Sites and Community Land Trust Sites - Meeting parish connection criteria for affordable rented homes on rural exception sites and community land trust sites with no other housing need. Admission to the housing register without a housing need as defined in the policy recognises the greater unaffordability of homes in small villages and villages outside settlement framework areas as defined in the council’s Development Plan and the need to consider the housing need of those with connections to rural villages more flexibly. Customers identified with connections to parishes are considered only for rural exception site and community land trust homes.
Although there is no sheltered housing planned for the new development at Park Farm, there has also been a change in the Council’s policy relating to older persons accommodation.
Wiltshire Council will now place any person aged 60 and over in Band 4 for older persons’ accommodation where the customer expresses a preference for it. The support needs do not need to be very significant as the purpose of older persons’ accommodation is to provide accommodation where a person’s needs can change and be met over time. The council will let its own sheltered homes to anyone aged 60 and over, however, at the point of a successful bid, if the home is owned by another housing provider, they will perform a pre-tenancy assessment, applying its own lettings policy. The exact wording of the criteria in Band 4 is as follows:-
Sheltered Accommodation and Extra Care Housing – Those aged 60 or over that require sheltered accommodation or have an identified support need that would be best met in supported accommodation. May include younger people (e.g. 50 and over) with similar needs.
New Build Rural Exception Sites and Community Land Trust Sites - Meeting parish connection criteria for affordable rented homes on rural exception sites and community land trust sites with no other housing need. Admission to the housing register without a housing need as defined in the policy recognises the greater unaffordability of homes in small villages and villages outside settlement framework areas as defined in the council’s Development Plan and the need to consider the housing need of those with connections to rural villages more flexibly. Customers identified with connections to parishes are considered only for rural exception site and community land trust homes.
Although there is no sheltered housing planned for the new development at Park Farm, there has also been a change in the Council’s policy relating to older persons accommodation.
Wiltshire Council will now place any person aged 60 and over in Band 4 for older persons’ accommodation where the customer expresses a preference for it. The support needs do not need to be very significant as the purpose of older persons’ accommodation is to provide accommodation where a person’s needs can change and be met over time. The council will let its own sheltered homes to anyone aged 60 and over, however, at the point of a successful bid, if the home is owned by another housing provider, they will perform a pre-tenancy assessment, applying its own lettings policy. The exact wording of the criteria in Band 4 is as follows:-
Sheltered Accommodation and Extra Care Housing – Those aged 60 or over that require sheltered accommodation or have an identified support need that would be best met in supported accommodation. May include younger people (e.g. 50 and over) with similar needs.
Wiltshire Council Community Led Housing Leaflet
