Agenda for the Parish Council Meeting on Wednesday 9th October at 7.30pm in the Parish Rooms, Church Farm Lane

Agenda for the Planning Meeting, Wednesday 9th October at 7pm in the Parish Rooms, Church Farm Lane.

Information Regarding Becoming a Councillor for WSCC in May Next Year.

For full details, please see the link below:

District Despatch from Cllr T Bangert

This month is Stoptober, the annual stop smoking campaign. For full details, please use the link below:

National Planning Policy Framework & Housing Changes Survey

We attach Sidlesham Parish Council's Response to the above survey for your informatio.

Welcome to the October issue of initiatives+ from Chichester District Council

For full details, please use the link below:

Pension Credit

Flyer giving out further information in respect of this issue for you.

Chichester Local Plan Examination Hearings Begin

For full details, please use the link below.

Sussex Community Housing Hub

AirS’ vision is for a rural Sussex that is thriving, economically active and full of choice and opportunities for everyone, regardless of their circumstance.

The Sussex Community Housing Hub is an enabling service within AirS that provides technical advice and support to both rural and community led affordable housing projects. Hub Advisers and Enablers can advise on a variety of approaches to delivery to suit the needs of a community. Our expertise and experience covers all aspects of the development journey towards meeting local needs. 

Why go the Rural Affordable Housing route?

Schemes are typically small scale and developed on Rural Exception Sites which allow affordable housing to be safeguarded and prioritised in perpetuity for local people.

A small scheme of affordable homes on a suitable site can breathe fresh life into a village and ensure local people can stay in their community, whatever their age or circumstance, and help to sustain local services such as shops, schools and pubs.

Our enabling service provides expert support and independent advice to Parish Councils and communities across rural parts of East and West Sussex, assessing affordable housing needs, assisting with site finding and bringing key partners together to facilitate housing projects that bring long term benefits to the community.

This approach is relatively straightforward with a Registered Provider – usually a Housing Association, taking on the procurement, ownership and management of the housing.

Affordable housing on Rural Exception Sites

Where there is an identified need for affordable housing in a village there is an opportunity to bring forward a small development on a suitable site just outside the parish development boundary using the Rural Exception Site policy.

This policy allows for development on land that would not normally get planning permission. AirS can help to identify the specific affordable housing needs in a parish and assess broader housing needs, such as older people struggling to downsize, via a Housing Needs Survey. Our Surveys often identify a number of residents in need of affordable housing who are not on any housing register and may otherwise go unnoticed.

The survey is distributed to every household in the parish, providing everyone the opportunity to state if someone they know requires alternative accommodation. The results of which provide guidance on what size, type and tenure people need now and, in the future.

A Housing Needs Survey is the first step to achieving affordable housing that fulfils the local need. The rural housing enabler can also help to identify potential sites, explain the options and processes, ensure smooth processes from pre-development to development and help build community support.

We have worked in partnership with parishes to bring forward many of these small schemes, which are safeguarded in perpetuity for local people, acting as a neutral intermediary between Parish Councils, landowners, local authorities, and housing associations.

Community led housing

Community-led housing (CLH) involves local people playing a leading and lasting role in solving housing problems, creating genuinely affordable homes and strong communities. CLH is about the long term stewardship of community assets for community benefit. Typically, this is about the provision of local needs affordable housing but can include a range of other community assets from pubs to post offices, as well as the use of land for re-generative, nature recovery purposes.

The Sussex Community Housing Hub is a ‘one stop shop’ for community led housing covering Community Land Trusts (CLTs), Co-housing, Co-operative housing and self-build groups and projects, mainly CLTs.

CLTs are set up to provide a vehicle for communities themselves to lead on all aspects of the delivery of such local needs homes including the type, tenure, location, design and affordability.

CLTs often partner with Housing Associations to deliver schemes but retain the freehold ownership of the land in perpetuity.

Why go the community led housing route?

Community led housing is a more bottom up approach, giving communities genuine influence over local development (design, location and scheme delivery) and empowering them to take ownership of local assets.

Homes are designed with community involvement throughout the process. The opportunity to have a say in things such as running costs, maintenance and the environmental impact of the development means that community led homes are often exemplar homes built to the highest environmental standards and also seek to provide genuine affordability via social rents or different forms of shared ownership.

Legal protections enable community led homes to remain affordable and available to those with a local connection in perpetuity.

A CLT can look to acquire local public assets – such as purchasing the local pub when it is about to close, or setting up a community shop so this approach is well placed to support balanced sustainable communities. The benefits of setting up a CLT can be far reaching and not only deal with housing need but also other community needs.

In February a partnership of key stakeholders, including all of the Local Authorities in Sussex, was formed to support the objectives of the enabling work already being carried out by AirS. Sussex Rural Affordable Housing Partnership (SRAHP) will be discussing themes affecting the delivery of rural affordable housing in Sussex with the aim of bringing forward more schemes for affordable homes in rural communities where there is a need. The Partnership is chaired by Douglas Denham St Pinnock and vice chaired by Keith Stevens who also act as chairs of West Sussex Association of Local Councillors and East Sussex Association of Local Councillors respectively.

We would be grateful if there is an opportunity to share the above information (or a version) in your Parish newsletter.

Please get in touch with the Hub team for any further information or to arrange a meeting.

Louise Halpern
Rural Housing Enabler

louise.halpern@ruralsussex.org.uk

Tel: 07514648057

Graham Maunders
Community Led Housing Advisor

Graham.maunders@ruralsussex.org.uk

Tel: 07824 900092

Tom Warder
Interim CEO and Community Led Housing Manager

Tom.warder@ruralsussex.org.uk
Tel: 07932 743403

Could you be a Councillor?

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