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The Parish Council has recived the following responses from DDDC’s Rural Housing Enabler to comments made in an earlier post:

Who are the houses for?Eligibility for any new houses that are built is determined by the policies of the Planning Authority (Peak District National Park Authority). These stipulate that in the first instance, houses would be made available to people with a connection with Parwich Parish or the immediately adjoining parishes. These are the parishes that took part in the Housing Needs Survey with Parwich, namely: Ballidon, Bradbourne, Eaton & Alsop and Newton Grange.

‘Local connection’  could be on the basis of a person or household’s residency, or if moving to the village to be cared for by a resident, or to take care of a resident. The qualifying residency period is ten years. This can be a continuous period of ten years (or more), or any ten years within the last twenty.

If new houses were not taken up by qualifying applicants from Parwich, or the immediately adjoining parishes, they would become available to applicants from further afield within the Peak District National Park. .
 
Has the council looked at sites?
In short, no. The local Housing Authority is Derbyshire Dales District Council. It will be their responsibility to select and secure a suitable site. They will do this with the Planning Authority and Housing Association (likely to be Nottingham Community Housing). The Housing Authority will make an initial assessment of potential sites on the 16th of November along with planners and the housing association.
 
Could the houses be bought and sold for profit on the open market?
No. A perpetuity agreement would prevent them being sold, or rented, to applicants who did not meet the qualifying criteria. This could only be changed by new legislation.
 
Will the rents be fixed at an affordable level?
The regulations governing rental of ‘affordable’ houses built on rural exception sites limit the rent that can be charged to 80% of the local market rate. In practice, rents are usually capped at the ‘Local Housing Allowance (LHA)’ rate. This is, broadly speaking, the maximum amount that could be paid in housing benefit to an occupant in receipt of it. The LHA rate is likely to be lower than 80% of the local market rate. 

A. Martin, Clerk to Parwich Parish Council

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Previous Blog posts have been used to share the results of the Housing Need Survey carried out earlier in the year. This is identified that the level of need would support a planning application for up to five houses.

A public Q&A session was recently held with the Derbyshire Dales Housing enabler to understand what will happen next. These are some of the key points.

The lead moving forward will be taken by Derbyshire Dales District Council (DDDC) as they are the authority with responsibility for housing. This will be done in collaboration with the Parish Council, particularly so that they can tap into useful local knowledge. This means that DDDC will select the housing association to work with and consider sites. Then architects can be appointed, planning applications prepared and finance secured. The Parish Council will not have to take responsibility, or pay, for any of these.

The housing enabler will organise a walk through the whole village, and surrounding area, to consider possible sites. The Planning Authority will expect them to demonstrate that they have considered all possible sites before proposing one. This is partly so that if objectors suggest alternatives, it does not look like they have not considered them.

They will carry out the walk with representatives from the Planning Authority and Housing Association. Parish Council members are encouraged to join them so that they can share local knowledge. This is likely to happen in November. Further details will be shared when the Council has them.

The process does not always identify a suitable site, or one that a land owner is prepared to release. In this case they might try again another year.

More background information is also available on the Parish Council website.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact a member of the Parish Council or the Parish Clerk.

clerk@parwichparishcouncil.org.uk

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The results of the recent Housing Needs Survey have been published on the Parish Council Website. To see the results use this link.

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