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Housing
This section of the site provides information on housing and planning in Somerset.
Having warm, decent and affordable housing is a major element of a person’s wellbeing. As in most parts of the country, Somerset faces the challenge posed by an expanding population, particularly at the older end of the age spectrum.
Key issues for Somerset:
- The ratio of house price to earnings is greater than the national average in all the Somerset housing authorities. In West Somerset, house prices at market entry levels are ten times the average earnings figure, making it especially difficult for young people to afford their own homes.
- House prices vary considerably across the county. Median prices range from over £390,000 in the Wedmore area of Sedgemoor to under £130,000 in parts of Bridgwater (2016).
- Fuel poverty is also particularly prevalent in West Somerset, where one-in-seven households are considered 'fuel-poor'.
- 18,749 people in 8,230 households were on the Homefinder Somerset social housing register at 31st March 2017.
- Of these, 557 households were in the Gold band (high need) and a further 10 in the most critical Emergency band.
- On average, approximately one-in-four applicants on the register are housed in any given year.
- Housing supply remains an issue, especially for one-bedroom properties. According to the latest ONS household projections (published May 2016), the largest projected increases between 2014 and 2039 are for single and adult couple households.
- The number of Housing Benefit claimants in Somerset was 29,522 in March 2017. Numbers of claimants have been declining steadily from peak of 36,622 in January 2013.
- Two thirds (69%) of claimants in March 2017 were in the social rented sector and one third (31%) in the private rented sector. A total of 2,057 claimants in the social rented sector received a reduced payment due to the Spare Room Subsidy Reduction (also referred to as the ‘bedroom tax’).
- The upward trend in single-person households, coupled with private sector rents at record high levels, will potentially increase the number of households who apply for local authority assistance with their housing.
- 3,112 dwellings in the county are second homes. In West Somerset, 6% of all dwellings are second homes, the tenth highest of any LA in England.
The Government’s welfare reforms could also lead to tenants facing greater financial difficulties and ultimately eviction. The Hinkley Point nuclear power station development is likely to have a significant impact on the availability of private sector accommodation and rent levels and may increase homelessness applications.
The Government's National Policy Planning Framework (NPPF) requires each local authority to undertake a Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) as part of the evidence base required to inform Local Plans. A SHMA seeks to assess the long term need and affordability of housing in the area. The latest SHMA for Somerset was published in October 2016.
The SHMA will also inform the new Somerset Strategic Housing Framework, due to be published in 2018. The Somerset Strategic Housing Framework 2013-2016 is available here.
Housing comprised a substantial section within the 2013/14 Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) Summary, published in March 2014. This section, featuring a more detailed summary of the housing-related issues affecting health and wellbeing in Somerset, is available below.
Note also that the 2011 Joint Strategic Needs Assessment had a section devoted to Housing with more facts, figures and insight.
Somerset Strategic Housing Group (SSHG)
The Somerset Strategic Housing Group is a long-standing group of officers representing Strategic Housing across each of the five District Councils. It also includes representation from the Registered Providers (as represented by Knightstone Housing) and Somerset County Council's Public Health and Adults and Health Commissioning departments.
SSHG provides a strategic steer for the Local Housing Authorities and housing providers and ensures that work is 'joined up' across the county. Recent and current work being delivered or commissioned through this group includes:-
- The Somerset Strategic Housing Framework
- Updated Homefinder Somerset policies (see below for more details)
- Financial Inclusion Strategy
- Completion of a Somerset Homelessness Strategy
- Other strategies which focus on housing for older and younger people
Somerset West Landlord and Tenant Services (SWeLT)
The SWeLT partnership was established in 2011 with the principal aim of working collectively across the Somerset West areas (incorporating the districts of Sedgemoor, Taunton Deane and West Somerset) seeking new and innovative ways of securing good quality, affordable private rented properties for people in housing need.
The partnership includes several key departments who work together to provide a comprehensive Tenancy Support Service for local landlords and tenants. This inludes the popular Landlord Accreditation Scheme, empty homes services with loans and grants, housing standards and housing options and advice teams.
The 2011 Census showed that a greater proportion of households are in private rented accommodation than was the case ten years earlier. Increasingly, Housing Options and Advice are looking towards the Private Rented Sector (PRS) as a realistic means of providing housing. In 2012/13, there were nearly twice as many homeless or potentially homeless households housed in the PRS by SWeLT than were accommodated by Registered Providers (previously known as Housing Associations).
A range of services have been set up to support and assist those in housing need, including:-
- insurance products for landlords and financial assistance through the Bond/Deposit scheme, which has assisted over 600 households since April 2012
- Free tenancy training, available through the Tenant Accreditation scheme, which has helped 41 applicants under the age of 35
- A referencing service recently developed via the Tenant Passport scheme, which is currently supporting eight local residents
Homefinder Somerset
Homefinder Somerset is a partnership of the five housing authorities and over 25 social housing providers in Somerset. The partnership has been in operation since December 2008 and has successfully housed over 14,000 applicants from the housing register.
It has a well established governance structure with a working group for landlords and local authority operational staff ,and a monitoring board where the overall performance of the choice-based letting (CBL) scheme and the combined allocation policy are monitored.
The scheme allows landlords to advertise 100% of their nominations through the system, and the vast majority of landlords do advertise all vacancies, to the benefit of applicants on the common housing register.
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Did you know?
There has been a big increase since 2001 in the number of residents with a Level 4 (e.g., Bachelor degree) or above qualification. There are now more people qualified to at least Level 4 (25.6%) than people with no qualifications (22.4%). - 2011 Census