In June 2010 Gillian Williams from Barnsley Council visited the Parish Council to ask our opinions on some proposed housing developments in Tankersley.

Gillian works in Strategic Housing department and works with various Housing Associations to provide affordable

housing throughout the borough. This can be all types of housing disabled units, homes for youngsters leaving care homes, sheltered housing schemes, Homeless family units, domestic violence refuge, extra care projects and many other initiatives.

All our projects are developed on land owned by BMBC. However land owned by BMBC in the west is in extremely short supply .

A Council owned field behind Glebe Court had been vacated by its horse owning tenants unexpectedly, thus freeing up some development land.  The site of the old prefabricated houses next to Tankersley Post office is still available for the Council to develop. Both pieces of land are listed in the UDP and FDF as Housing Proposal.

Why Affordable Housing?

The west of the borough is desperate for affordable housing for local people, new and existing houses are often out of reach financially for local residents and this causes communities to fragment as the younger generations have to move away from the area to find housing.   Affordable housing allows people to part own a house and pay rent to the housing association, and pay a mortgage on their part, this allows the owners to build up equity in the property.  If they sell the property the profit they make on their portion can be kept as a deposit on their next house.  The is always sold back to the housing association, and the property is then available for another local occupant to use the scheme.

The current council properties that come up for re-letting are not ring fenced for local people which means that the properties do not necessarily go to local people who are in need.  Any affordable housing development that we create in Tankersley and Pilley would have 100% nomination rights for local people and would always remain affordable.

Although house prices are dropping throughout the rest of the borough research indicates that in Tankersley and Pilley house prices are still rising. Average house price in Tankersley for a three bed property is £154,000 Which is 6 times the average wage in Barnsley. However the average house price for a 3 bed in a similar size rural village in the east of the borough is £85,000 which is far more affordable.  The house prices in the west make it almost impossible for local 1^st time buyers to get onto the property ladder.

Strategic Housing have successfully delivered rural housing schemes in the west by working closely with Parish Councillors, and local members schemes such as

• Spencers Croft Cawthorne
• Smithy Hill Thurgoland
• Lyttleton Crescent Cubley

These schemes have provided 42 rural homes for local families.  We currently have 3 more schemes being built

• Royd Avenue Millhouse Green which will provide 30 properties
• Chapelfield Lane which will provide 5 older persons bungalows on an underutilised garage site
• Victoria Street Penistone which will provide 2 fully disabled bungalows

Summary

• The need to increase rural housing provision is a key aim within the sub regional housing strategy.
• The council have endorsed the provision of new affordable homes within the west of the borough
• The 2007 Housing Needs and affordability study demonstrates a clear need
• The council has an ambition to create sustainable communities