Charlbury Housing Register
Housing Need in Charlbury
There seems to be a widespread view that there is a great shortage of 'affordable' ,by which many mean social housing, for local people in Charlbury. However figures from the official housing register from West Oxfordshire Home seeker Plus see www.drive.google.com/open?id=1B2YS5NAbdLfQBE5UkewfgYU-B13sLM6GdGDn31OXd7M paints a rather different picture. In fact in December 2017 there were just 28 people with Charlbury connections on the register and 23 of these were in the Bronze(lowest need and already in accommodation)) category. With the current developments at Hughes Close and Little Lees of 24 dwellings for housing associations it is likely that most of these will be able to be housed. It should be recognised that this list changes from week to week according to individuals needs but it does provide a fairly consistent figure in our case.
What there is a need for and what is also highlighted by evidence collected by the neighbourhood forum is for private affordable houses mainly for young families but also older people who would like to downsize and find smaller suitable accommodation in the Town. These are the people that the Neighbourhood Plan will aim to find homes for although the exact way to do this is not certain and the Steering Committee would welcome any suggestions.
It is true that there are a much greater number of people who say they wish to live in Charlbury but they do not have a local connection and the policy of West Oxfordshire Housing and that proposed in our Neighbourhood Plan is that we should be trying to accommodate only those with a local connection to Charlbury.
It is expected that the Local Plan which is now close to acceptance will endorse this policy and not seek to find homes for everyone who might express a wish to move here either for social housing or at the other end of the scale for large expensive market housing which is out of reach for most local people.
Tony Merry
Parish Council Nominee, West Oxfordshire Region, Cotswolds Conservation Board
Tony H Merry · Thu 1 Feb 2018, 11:47 · Link