Affordable Housing Initiative in Beenham

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Since April our Rural Housing Enabler Maria has been working with Beenham Parish Council to help them identify affordable housing need in Beenham and look at options for developing affordable homes for local people in the Parish.

A Housing Needs Survey was completed in September 2024, and the results were presented to Beenham residents at a public meeting on the 29th October at the Victory Hall. This meeting was also an opportunity for residents to share stories about the impact of insufficient affordable housing in the village on individuals and the community as a whole, and ask questions about what happens next, once housing need has been identified.

David Hancock, Parish Councillor, described succinctly how the cost of housing was affecting the community. He said:

“As young adults having families, many of us had the benefit of becoming house owners or having affordable rents because property prices were cheaper relevant to income. In Beenham today the cheapest house is 7 times annual income. Previously, we were able to choose where we lived, so we were able to grow up with family near us in a community we knew, if we wanted to. Communities could sustain local schools and some amenities. As people moved on from running the community’s clubs and associations we had their successors, young people rooted in the community. Today that is being lost in Beenham. We can change this and that is why we started this initiative with the full backing of the Parish Council and the indispensable support of CCB.”

Acting Headmistress of the local school, Sophie McBean, made a statement about the problems facing the school due a to lack of accordable homes in the parish:

“Beenham has very little housing that is affordable for young families. When applying for school places, families fall in the catchment of the school they live closest to, so making the village more accessible for young families will help to increase pupil numbers in the school. Pupil numbers are vital for every school but make a particular impact on small schools such as Beenham Primary School. School funding is allocated per child, so in simple terms, the more children in school equates to more money to spend on providing an excellent education for all of our pupils.”

With around 50 people in attendance there was lively discussion about housing issues and potential sites for new homes, and with a wide range of views in the community about new developments, past housing initiatives, infrastructure, and the importance of local connections criteria, the Parish Council did an excellent job of allowing everyone to speak and be heard.

As affordable housing need HAS been identified in Beenham, the next step will be to visit potential locations for homes with a local planning officer to assess site viability and start to approach relevant landowners. As with any community, there will be supporters and those with concerns or objections at every stage of the process. Beenham Parish Council have taken great care to keep the community informed and use local social media sites to share information and answer residents questions. This is just the beginning of the process for Beenham, having an active and engaged parish council who listen to and inform residents has been key to the projects success so far.

If you’d like to know more about our Rural Affordable Housing project please click here.

Exciting News for Rural Communities in Berkshire

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We recently learned that we have been successful in our application to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) for funding to provide a rural housing-enabling service to support Parish Councils in Berkshire to address their local affordable housing needs.

We are currently in the process of recruiting for this post and will be able to share more news about this shortly. This type of support has not been available since 2017 when funding for our previous project dropped to unsustainable levels. Since that time the housing situation for many rural communities has worsened, with increased house prices and a drop in the availability of rented homes. We are really keen to we use this funding to make a real impact on the provision of high-quality affordable homes for those living in our villages.

Through this service, CCB will be able to work with rural parishes in Berkshire to: 

  • Undertake a housing needs survey to establish evidence for the numbers and tenures of homes that might be needed.  We have budget available to carry out some surveys at no cost where a parish wants to explore rural affordable housing options.
  • Help with site identification and site appraisals to find a potential rural exception site in the parish.
  • Help parishes decide on the best delivery route to meet their ambitions: for example through a community-led approach whereby the community takes the lead in designing and commissioning the project, or through transferring the site to a housing association to develop in consultation with the community. We have built strong links with local housing associations who are committed to rural affordable housing and working collaboratively with communities.
  • Liaise with the local housing and planning authority to help the scheme achieve a planning permission. We are working closely with the Berkshire housing and planning authorities to deliver this programme.
  •  Coordinate the delivery of the site, including community engagement, funding, partnership agreements, and letting and sales arrangements.

This initial funding is only available until March 2025. Whilst we hope that the funding will be extended, we do want to use this period to make significant progress in the identification of suitable sites that can lead to new affordable homes for people priced out of local housing.

If you would like to register you interest in this project please contact Tim.Parry@ccberks.org.uk