Needed homes will help keep local families in the village.
Work has begun on five new affordable homes in Piltdown, Fletching, to help ease the shortage in rental accommodation which is all-too-real for many Wealden villages.
The new development, next to Little Barkham Farm, Piltdown; is the result of a partnership between Wealden District Council, Fletching Parish Council and Downland Housing Association; and is on course for completion in December.
“The provision of affordable rented accommodation at Piltdown will be of a great benefit to the village,” said Patrick Cooper, Chairman of Fletching Parish Council. “A survey conducted in the parish in 2004 indicated that some 32 newly-formed local families would be in need of affordable accommodation over the next five years. The majority would have an income of less than £23,000, making it very difficult for them to find accommodation at current market rates.”
Wealden District Council would like to hear from people with local Fletching connections who are in need of affordable accommodation. Please ring Wealden Housing Development Officer Karen Horner on 01323 443278.
“We are pleased with the progress that has been made in Fletching,” said Councillor Mrs Margaret Kirkpatrick, Cabinet member for Housing and Community Development. ”The site has been made available under Wealden District Council’s planning exceptions policy which allows affordable housing to be built on land where housing is not usually permitted. But we do make sure that they are in keeping with the scale and design and fits in with the character of the village. And the homes are only built subject to them remaining as affordable housing.”
The Fletching development, next to Little Barkham Farm on the A272 , consists of three two-bedroom homes and two three-bedroom homes. They are being built to meeting a high Eco-Home rating, and use recycled paper for wall insulation, Forest Stewardship timber construction materials, locally-sourced laminated sweet chestnut window frames, an environmentally-friendly septic tank system and will use wood burning stoves. They will only be rented to people in need of separate affordable accommodation who have local connections.
“These much-needed affordable homes were only made possible by a local landowner approaching the housing association with an offer of the land. We are very grateful and would welcome other such offers where the rural exceptions policy might apply,” said Councillor Mrs Kirkpatrick.
