South Hams District Council builds affordable housing
According to the Office for National Statistics the South Hams has the third most expensive housing on average in the whole of the South West. The South Hams District Council has revealed that Bigbury, a village in the South Hams, had the average house price of £775,000 in 2022 and the rental cost had gone up by 24.2% from 2018 to 2024.
With all of the above in mind the South Hams District Council has begun tackling the issue with affordable housing. Already, tenants have moved into 8 new council-built affordable rental properties.
These homes have been built in St. Ann’s Chapel, an area just north of Bigbury. Currently these homes are only for people who work locally or have a family link with the nearby Bigbury.
The District Council has called this the “first in a generation” project of affordable homes in the area, with plans for more to come in the near future.
Devon Home Choice have said there are currently 924 people on the waiting list for housing in the South Hams area with them, and Andy Woods of Kingsbridge Estate Agents has revealed that he has more than 100 people registered looking for affordable rental properties in the area.
With the scale of the issue in mind it is important that the District Council expands on its efforts to deliver affordable housing to locals.
Bernard Taylor, the Chairman of South Hams District Council, said: “The site was donated by a farmer. It features eight affordable homes and also three additional houses that will be sold on the open market.”
He said the homes will “certainly make a difference in this small area” and promised more similar sites in the future.
Mr Taylor said the new houses are “the first in a generation of council-built affordable houses”.
Lord Richard Best, the chair of the Devon Housing Commission, said: “We are desperately short of homes that people can afford to live in”.
“If you are under 40 and you want to work, have a proper job and live in Devon – you’re in trouble”.
Greg Williams, Head of Business Development at Compariqo, said: “Seeing areas such as the South Hams develop such high housing prices raises concern and the efforts of the local council are admirable in dealing with this in accordance with Labour plans”.
“We at Compariqo greatly support such projects, both currently and in the future, and are here to lend our support whenever possible”.
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