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Babergh District Councillors and staff met today with affordable housing experts to hammer out ways in which more affordable homes could be built in the district. They also received a warning that the worst of the crisis may yet be to happen – unless proposals to build hundreds of affordable homes in the draft Local Plan are approved.
"Babergh knows that with steep house price inflation it is getting harder and harder for many local people to afford to live in the district" explained Sue Wigglesworth, Chairman of Babergh District Council and of the Housing Task Group. "This issue is one of our priorities and we wanted to bring together representatives of other interested groups to take stock of our current range of solutions and to look at future opportunities".
Councillors were told that Babergh now had the second highest average house prices in Suffolk (£173,983 ) – which is nearly 10% above the county average and 5% above the average for England and Wales as a whole.
"Babergh is facing real problems and yet we’ve been impressed by how focussed they have been in trying out new ways in providing homes" said Martin Aust, Development Director of Flagship Housing who contributed to the seminar. "We like the fact that Babergh has streamlined the ways in which parishes have to prove that there is a need for local affordable units and the way it is adapting the planning process to build homes for local people to rent on the fringes of villages that want them. The Babergh way is having real impact".
Louise Wilby, the Rural Development Enabler for Suffolk, also attended the meeting and praised the "importance of Babergh’s commitments to working in partnership with others to provide at least 700 lower cost new homes for rent or purchase over the next five years or so. Given the likely continued increase in property prices, the element of the Local Plan that seeks to build a majority of these through planning gain could make a major contribution to addressing part of the future housing needs of the district".
Mike Hammond, Babergh’s Corporate Director explained that "This has been a very useful housing ‘summit’ bringing together lots of expertise. Babergh will be unstinting in its efforts to increase the supply of housing that local people can afford to buy or rent. Our Local Plan proposals aim to ensure that all developments of at least 15 dwellings will include up to 35% for rent or shared ownership. In addition, we can make land we own available to Housing Associations at discounts of up to 100%. Furthermore, we are providing incentives to current Council tenants to transfer to smaller properties where their existing house is under-occupied".
More information on affordable housing.
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