South Hams is amongst the least affordable places to live in the UK and a lack of affordable housing has had significant impact on communities throughout the district. In 2006 the average house price in the South Hams was £281,818, whereas the majority of people earn less than £20,000 per year. Many people move into the District to retire or buy a second home because of its beautiful environment. In fact the district has the second highest proportion of second homes in England after the Scilly Isles. These factors have had the effect of pricing some local people out of their own communities. Young people have had to move away in search of cheaper houses or jobs which are no longer available closer to home. This in turn has led to increased risk of closure of schools, bus services, shops and other local facilities.
In order to address these issues, South Hams District Council, decided its number one corporate priority to be, “to secure a supply of housing for local people at affordable levels.” In 2006, Members resolved to increase capacity to make progress with this priority and a new multi-disciplinary Affordable Housing team was recruited to work to deliver this priority.
South Hams District Council has been awarded Beacon status in Affordable Housing for the year 2005-2006. The Beacon scheme identifies excellence and innovation in local government. We were awarded Beacon status for a number of reasons:
- Delivering significantly higher levels of affordable housing than the norm
- Shared internal and external commitment to delivering affordable housing
- Well developed joint working with a wide range of partners
- Effective generation of significant funding for affordable housing
- Robust and integrated policy framework to secure sustainable development
- Demonstrable outcomes
- Policy framework with challenging affordable housing targets
The Beacon scheme exists to share good practice throughout the sector in order to deliver more affordable homes in conjunction with communities in a sustainable manner.
Please use the navigation bar for further information on South Hams District Council’s Affordable Housing team.
