Context

4.43 The local Portishead Housing Needs Assessment has identified that there remains a significant proportion of our community who cannot afford market housing in Portishead, and who are more likely to be forced to move away from family, employment and their associations with Portishead to find suitable housing. Portishead’s more acute housing affordability issues require a distinct approach to help local people secure affordable housing within Portishead.

4.44 The Neighbourhood Plan cannot control the allocation of affordable rented housing. However, the Town Council wishes to maximise the opportunity for people with a housing need, who have an existing association with Portishead, to be able to secure suitable new open market or discounted market homes through encouraging providers to offer a reasonable short initial period of exclusive home marketing.

4.45 The Government’s latest “First Homes” discounted market affordable housing product can enable local criteria to be applied to require an initial marketing period of three months for qualifying local people. The Town Council will support this being applied to the sale of First Homes in Portishead. First Homes may not be the only discounted housing provided. Shared ownership is the more commonly applied discounted market housing approach within North Somerset. To maximise the responsiveness to meeting Portishead’s distinct housing needs, the Town Council will support and encourage housing providers to extend this criteria to all intermediate affordable market housing types.

4.46 The Town Council will also encourage and welcome open market house-builders offering a similar initial three month “offplan” marketing period to people within Portishead who may wish or need to move to meet their changing needs either to accommodate a growing family or relative or to down-size to a more manageable and accessible home.

Relevant Objective

O8 To protect Portishead’s stock of one and two bedroom and accessible homes, and ensure that any future housing that comes forward to meet government targets contains a diverse range of tenures, forms and sizes to meet the identified housing needs of the community, protects and enhances Portishead’s distinct character and maintains resident amenity and highway safety.

Local Policy Context

• CS16
• North Somerset Affordable Housing SPD (2013)

POLICY PWH4 - MAKING HOUSING AVAILABLE TO LOCAL PEOPLE IN HOUSING NEED

Encouragement will be given to housing providers where open market, First Homes and all other discounted market housing provided within Portishead Neighbourhood Area is offered for an initial three month marketing period exclusively to local people who fall into any of the following categories (in order of priority stated):

i. Either the prospective applicant or buyer has continuously lived in Portishead for a minimum of 3 years immediately preceding the date of bidding or offer, in the case of Shared Ownership housing;

ii. Either the applicant or partner has previously lived in Portishead for 10 years continuously, not more than 5 years ago, immediately preceding the date of bidding or offer, in the case of Shared Ownership housing;

iii. Either the applicant or partner has been continuously employed in Portishead for at least 12 months immediately preceding the date of bidding or offer in the case of Shared Ownership housing, in work of a non-casual nature;

iv. Either the applicant or partner has a close relative that lives in Portishead and has done so for at least 5 years immediately preceding the date of bidding or offer in the case of Shared Ownership housing.

House builders are encouraged to market all new open market housing for an initial three month period at the commencement of marketing, exclusively to residents of Portishead.