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.