The subject this time will be housing. Councillor Jemima Milton will begin the conversation.
Minutes:
Councillor Jemima Milton introduced the community conversation on the subject of ‘houses that fit local families’. Councillor Milton introduced James Cawley, Service Director for Strategy and Commissioning.
James Cawley then gave a presentation about the housing situation in Calne. This covered the following main points:
· Basic stock profile of Calne – 65.7% owner occupied and 17.9% social housing
· Housing register breakdown – 17,088 houses were on the housing register across Wiltshire and 620 households expressed a first preference for Calne
· Social housing lettings in Calne – there were 611 total lettings across Wiltshire since April 2012 and 64 lettings in Calne with 56 households with a local connection
· Under occupation – 151 households in Calne were affected by under occupation – classed as such if you were under 65 years old and on benefits
· Review of allocations – The Localism Act 2011 introduced amendments to Part 6 of the Housing Act and provided new freedoms to set the rules determining which categories of applicants qualified for social housing.
This was followed by a question and answer session, supported also by Ann Cornelius, Managing Director at Green Square, and Helen Madle, Private Sector Housing Manager, Wiltshire Council.
The session incorporated the issues below:
· A case was raised regarding the length of time taken to move a family of six people from a two bedroom property in Woodroffe Square – James Cawley would meet with the family concerned and discuss confidentially. The issue was insufficient suitable property in Calne and how to encourage people to downsize.
· The condition of properties in Woodroffe Square - properties were getting older and more difficult to heat. Green Square had a systematic programme of going through properties to assess if they were fit for purpose. This was a large and costly task and would not happen overnight.
· How to start the process of receiving help from Homes 4 Wiltshire as a young single individual – the process can be started online or in person. The change to the Housing Act made it difficult for those aged under 25 to secure housing and a related issue was the lack of employment for young people.
· The statistics provided about affordable homes were questioned as new developments were providing 30% affordable housing. Even with this, there was not enough suitable accommodation to meet the needs in Calne.
· Households were asked why they chose Calne as their first preference. The three main reasons given were; because of family, employment or they had lived in Calne before.
· A planning application submitted with a 60 bed extra care home – some residents of Calne had received a leaflet from the developer Gleeson Homes asking for their comments. There was a large shortfall of housing for elderly people across the whole of Wiltshire. Wiltshire Council asked developers to invite the views of the community before they submitted an application. Once an application was received, Wiltshire Council would conduct its own consultation with town and parish councils and the .
· Statistics for comparable towns in North Wiltshire were requested.
Decision
James Cawley agreed to provide statistics regarding housing for comparable towns in North Wiltshire via Jane Vaughan, the Community Area Manager.