Villagers welcome housing
Nine new rental homes will help out residents unable to keep pace with house prices
NEW social housing for Eversley was discussed at a drop-in session that coincided with rural housing week.
Visitors to Eversley Village Hall last Wednesday were shown how a project to build nine affordable homes for rent next to others in Westward Ho, off Reading Road, was coming along.
People had the chance to sign up for Hart District Council’s (DC) housing register at the event, hosted by the authority and Eversley Parish Council. The new housing is expected to be finished by the end of October and will consist of two one-bedroom, five two-bedroom and two three-bedroom homes.
The process of allocating the homes is now beginning, with preference given to applicants with a proven connection to Eversley.
Nicola Harpham, strategy and development manager for Hart, said around 25 people visited the information session.
“This is getting to the end of a very long process,” she said. “The parish council has been very helpful in bringing this scheme forward.
“We always have to prove that there is a need for local housing and that’s where the parish council has helped us, in consultation with the public. There has been a lot of interest and everyone wanted to know how apply.”
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been worked on for several years in partnership with Hampshire Alliance for Rural Affordable Housing (HARAH), which seeks to prevent residents of rural areas being forced to move away from where they were brought up and have family ties due to housing shortages.
Such housing schemes often take a long time to complete due to difficulties in finding sites, land negotiations and obtaining funding and planning.
Feedback was sought from the parish council and those living in the village to identify the Westward Ho site.
Marion Lee, 57, who lives in Westward Ho and will be a neighbour of the new scheme, supported the reasons the homes were being built.
“We were lucky to stay in Eversley and so it would be nice for others to have the chance to get one of the houses and stay here too,” she said.
“Obviously it will change this little road. The building work has impacted on us but they’ve been mindful and always kept us informed so you can’t ask for more than that, really.
“There’s obviously been some interest as we’ve had a lot of cars coming in. That’s the only concern, about the amount of cars, but hopefully it will be okay. You can’t have everything.”
To join Hart DC’s housing register, contact the housing services department on 01252 774420 or email hous ing.services@hart.gov.uk.