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General Discussion

ZIGGY
ZIGGY
24 Jan 2017 11:51

Another part of Dawlish History up for sale.

https://www.onthemarket.com/details/3451374/

Margaret Swift
Margaret Swift
24 Jan 2017 16:21

Yet more flats to be built in an already congested area. Let's hope they are forced to provide parking spaces for every dwelling created.

6 Agrees
monty
monty
24 Jan 2017 17:09

Appalling, no affordable housing, which is what Dawlish needs.

 

2 Agrees
HuwMatthews2
HuwMatthews2
25 Jan 2017 01:13

Can't see any flats listed on the plan.

Any affordable housing wouldn't go to local people anyway due to the Devon Home Choice Scheme.

One parking space for each unit provided.

It doesn't look like a bad development for my old school.

1 Agree
Lynne
Lynne
25 Jan 2017 07:57

Genuinely want to know the answer to this question.

Why would the Devon Home choice Scheme stop affordable housing going to local people? 

Daverc
Daverc
25 Jan 2017 08:29

That's where the Christian Fellowship meets, isn't it ?  Where are they going ?

Lynne
Lynne
25 Jan 2017 09:42

@Daverc - believe a purpose built building for the cf is going up on the redrow site by sainsburys. 

Lynne
Lynne
25 Jan 2017 09:49

For those interested this link should take you to the planning documents

http://gis.teignbridge.gov.uk/TeignbridgePlanningOnline/Results.aspx?Type=Application&Refval=16/00464/FUL

click on View Application (bottom left hand of page) to access correspondence concerning this redevelopment.   

Gary Taylor
Gary Taylor
25 Jan 2017 10:00

Good question on Affordable Housing, Lynne. While the highest Devon Home Choice Housing Needs Bands A, B and C (Emergency, High and Medium) will generally apply to those already living and/or working in Devon, Band D (Low) will apply if you have no connection to Devon. Given that Devon's local authorities are having difficulty enough in housing the higher band needs, it would be unlikely that someone in the lowest need band without a local (County) connection would be housed here in Dawlish

 

There are other AH conditions that can apply in National Park LPA Local Plans and/or where a case for local housing need for those within a tighter area (e.g town or parish) is made via an area Neighbourhood Plan.

 

FYI, this from Lynton & Lynmouth's  Neighbourhood Plan, 'The Lyn Plan':

Local Connection 5.2.16

All affordable housing allowed by the Plan will be subject to a local connection meaning that people with a local connection to the area are first in line to live in it. To date the Exmoor National Park Local Plan has defined this as someone who:

- has a minimum period of 10 years permanent and continuous residence in the parish or an adjoining parish

- is not now resident in the parish or an adjoining parish but with a local connection with the parish including a period of permanent and continuous residence of 10 years or more within the last 20

- has an essential need to live close to another person who has a minimum of 10 years permanent and continuous residence in the parish or an adjoining parish, the essential need arising from proven age or medical reasons

- needs to live close to their place of work in the parish or an adjoining parish.

 

BTW, The DCF are relocating to a new building in Swift Road, at the the entrance to the 'Warren Grove' Redrow estate.

 

HuwMatthews2
HuwMatthews2
25 Jan 2017 20:28

Agree with Gary's analysis of Home Choice.

I doubt many Dawlishians would agree that people from say Barnstaple, Ilfracombe etc should be considered 'local' for housing priority...but they are.

This does not just apply to Devonians though. It is recognised that Housing Officers can re-grade 'problem cases' to give them a better chance of housing outside of their jurisdiction thus passing the problem on to someone else. Why would someone living on benefits in an inner-city not want to move to the seaside and be on the same benefits? Home Choice schemes allow that to happen.

4 Agrees
ZIGGY
ZIGGY
26 Jan 2017 08:30
Lynne
Lynne
26 Jan 2017 08:33

I thought what Gary had posted implied that having a local connection to the parish (in this case Dawlish) or adjoining ones (eg Starcross) was more or less a necessity.

And yes of course people from outside the area (both within Devon and elsewhere) may move into the area. They may have a local family connection, or they may be part of a witness protection scheme, or they may need to be relocated due to, say, being on the wrong end of domestic violence.

Then there are the people who move into the area via the mutual exchange scheme.  

 

Gary Taylor
Gary Taylor
26 Jan 2017 09:48

Such an arrangement is in place elsewhere in parts of Devon, Lynne, as noted in the case of Exmoor NP above, however this is what it says in the DHC User Guide regarding the highest band of housing need, which would in certain circumstances override the necessity for a Devon connection:

 

Band A – Emergency Housing Need:

Your application will only be placed in this band if your need for housing is assessed as so exceptional that you must take priority over all other applicants. For example: • you have an urgent health or wellbeing need • your home is in a state of emergency disrepair • you need to move to escape violence or the threat of violence, harassment or a traumatic event. Substantial evidence must exist to award this priority.

 

The point being that any Affordable Housing provision brought about through new residential development here in Devon is not being routinely used to house people on the waiting list of local authorities elsewhere in the country. 

Lynne
Lynne
26 Jan 2017 09:55

Thank you Gary for your last paragraph.

That is how I understand the situation to be.   

HuwMatthews2
HuwMatthews2
26 Jan 2017 11:36

Hmmm..... 

Suggest you read Sect 3.9 of the Devon Home Choice Policy Document.

You will then be able to decide for yourself how easy it is for people with no local ties to get Home Choice properties in Teignbridge with a little help from their own area Housing Officer.

 

Additionally Sect 1.5.9 states that "Each of the organisations involved in the Devon Home Choice Partnership has an Equal Opportunities Policy to ensure that: - Everyone has equal access to services - No one is discriminated against on the grounds of ethnic origin, disability, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or for any other reason ".

Gary Taylor
Gary Taylor
26 Jan 2017 12:30

Few would disagree with the ethos of this EO Policy HM2, however the various DHC band qualifications are quite clear: Unless there is an emergency housing need (as detailed above) - without a Devon connection an applicant would be placed in Band D, Low Housing Need.

 

But as you point out, while this scheme does not provide Affordable Housing, it does not look like a bad development (especially considering parking is provided) and will help provide additional homes in a very sustainable location, while retaining the character of the original buildings. 

1 Agree
Lynne
Lynne
26 Jan 2017 13:53

This is what it says at section 3.9 of the Devon Home Choice policy document

 

3.9 No local connection to Devon
3.9.1 Applicants who have no local connection to Devon will have their application
placed in either:
- The Low housing need band (D) if they are assessed as having a housing need
(whether this be high, medium or low need), or
- The No housing need band (E) if they are assessed as having no housing need
3.9.2 Households applying to Teignbridge District Council or Torbay Council who have
no local connection to Devon and are assessed as having no housing need will not
be registered.
3.9.3 However exceptions to this will include where:
- They have been accepted by 1 of the Devon local authorities as statutorily
homeless, and local connection has been waived for specific reasons such as
the applicant is fleeing domestic violence
Devon Home Choice Policy v3.8 Effective from March 2015
27
- They need to move to Devon to give or receive support where failure to do so
would cause hardship
- There are special circumstances such as health or support needs that are only
available within Devon
- An applicant has no local connection in any district within the United Kingdom,
then they will be deemed to have a local connection to Devon
3.9.4 In such circumstances applicants will be banded in line with the above policy,
regardless of the fact that they have no local connection to Devon.
3.9.5 To demonstrate a local connection (defined in Part VII of the Housing Act 1996)
with Devon applicants will:
- Normally be resident in Devon. Local Government Association guidelines
define this as having resided in the area for six of the last twelve months, or
three out of the last five years, where residence has been out of choice. In line
with the Housing and Regeneration Act (2008) service personnel who have
been based and living in Devon will be considered to have local connection
with Devon. Their local connection will be to the local authority area where they
are based or where they have been assessed.
- Work in Devon. The Local Government Association guidelines define this as
employment other than of a casual nature. For the purposes of this policy this
will be defined as having had permanent work with a minimum of a 16 hour
contract per week for the previous 6 months, and without a break in the period
of employment for more than three months.
- Have family connections in Devon. The Local Government Association
guidelines define this as immediate family members (parents, siblings and nondependent
children) who have themselves lived in the area for five years.
3.9.6 Applicants will be required to provide proof of their local connection to Devon
before their banding is assessed.
3.9.7 A number of housing associations with homes in Devon operate across a wider
regional or national area. Tenants of such associations may on occasion wish to
transfer to Devon from outside the county, but will not meet the local connection
criteria (e.g. they do not have a local connection to Devon). In such cases the local
connection to Devon criteria shall not be applicable. In such circumstances the
tenant will be placed in the band determined by their housing needs, in the same
way as applicants with a local connection to Devon. They will then be able to bid
for homes in the same way as other applicants.
3.9.8 Section 315 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 amended section 199 of
the Housing Act 1996 so that someone serving in the Armed Forces will be able to
establish a local connection through residence or employment in an area, in the
same way as a civilian person.
3.9.9 The Localism Act 2011 provides local authorities with the power to decide who
qualifies for social housing. The Allocation of Housing (Qualification Criteria for
Armed Forces) (England) Regulations 2012 confirms that the local connection
criteria cannot be applied to the following people when deciding who is, or is not, a
Devon Home Choice Policy v3.8 Effective from March 2015
28
qualifying person:
(a) members of the Armed Forces and former Service personnel, where the
application is made within five years of discharge
(b) bereaved spouses and civil partners of members of the Armed Forces leaving
Services Family Accommodation following the death of their spouse or partner
(where the death was attributable, wholly or partly, to their service)
(c) serving or former members of the Reserve Forces who need to move because
of a serious injury, medical condition or disability sustained as a result of their
service
3.9.10 The local connection to Devon criteria will not therefore be applied to any
households set out in the above paragraph. This, in line with the guidance from
Government, recognises the special position of members of the Armed Forces (and
their families) whose employment requires them to be mobile and who are likely
therefore to be particularly disadvantaged by local connection requirements; as
well as those injured reservists who may need to move to another local authority
district to access treatment, care or support.
3.9.11 If a home is subject to more specific local connection to Devon criteria however
these will still apply to tenants of partner landlords with no local connection to
Devon. For example Section 106 planning conditions that mean the home can only

be let to someone with a local connection to a specific local area.

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