Providing Affordable Homes in Perpetuity
During the public consultation, held last February, many people asked us “what will happen to the Village after the lease/ loan is repaid in 40 years”
It is a good question and one we felt best answered by the Trust in which the land will be held. Here is their reply.
Watton Hill Trust are very pleased to be able to contribute to the exciting new proposed housing development being promoted by Smart Community Projects.
Rental Properties
Watton Hill Trust will provide, for a generation, and free of charge, land on which a good number of affordable houses for rent can be built. During this period the properties will be managed by a Registered Housing Provider under contracts and terms and conditions that will be maintained in perpetuity when ownership of the land reverts to Watton Hill Trust later this century.
Open Market Properties
In addition to the affordable housing for rent, a smaller number of properties are proposed for open market sale and shared ownership. Watton Hill Trust will receive appropriate payment for the land on which these properties will be built: payment which will include recovery of costs that Watton Hill Trust and Smart Community Projects have already incurred at their own risk in the development of this project.
Creating a Community
This model of ownership and funding will more easily enable delivery of a mixed community with a majority number of affordable homes interspersed healthily with a small but significant, proportion of owner-occupied properties. Alternative models either have a majority of open market properties whose developers are forced as a condition of planning to fund a tucked-away affordable small precinct, or are smaller Community models that build, on marginal land, a small, limited number of affordable homes only.
How we move forward
Next steps to bring this project to fruition will be an application for formal planning consent by Smart Community Projects to Dorset Council. This application will be in parallel with negotiations that will be carried out jointly by Watton Hill Trust and Smart Community Projects with an already identified major City finance institution and a local Registered Housing Provider. We very much look forward to making this innovative vision a reality.
Please sign up for more information and follow @smartcommunityproject on social to share your views and support our application to Dorest Council.
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