Rural Development Sub-Committee

Inquiry into Poverty and Deprivation in Rural Wales

Response from Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) Cymru

The Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) Cymru works to improve the lives of social housing tenants in both housing and community matters, by promoting effective participation of tenants with their landlords and with other partners in issues that affect them.

TPAS Cymru’s general evidence to the committee is that there are significant issues to do with the supply of affordable and socially rented housing within rural communities. In addition to this the management and participatory mechanisms for existing social housing and wider rural communities is based on the experience of what has worked well within urban communities.

Much of the area of evidence requested is outside the remit of TPAS Cymru, however, we have answered the specific points where we feel we have opinion to offer

Responses to Specific Questions

1. What are the poverty/ deprivation problems faced by rural areas? What are the specific needs of rural areas in relation to this issue?

Over the last few years the affordable housing situation in Wales has arguably reached its crisis point. The Right to Buy legislation has impacted on rural areas more than many urban areas (largely because of the idyllic nature of the rural environment, resulting in several villages only having 2 or 3 council properties which are still available for rent, where there used to be as many as 12 properties. In addition the increase in the cost of purchasing a property means that the majority of the local first time buyers are priced out of the housing market. The growth of the 2^nd / holiday homes market has added to the problems and has raised further questions about the accessibility and affordability of housing in rural Wales.

Many rural communities have been left with a feeling of insecurity about their future and survival. This feeling arises out of a background of change, and often decline, with new people moving in and the young people of that community moving out, with the traditions and stability being lost. Opportunities for change and external input have not been a tradition in rural Wales - and it is often argued that the traditional ways of working are more likely to succeed than exploring new and untried possibilities.

Adding to the above are issues of a high dependence on agriculture, which is in rapid decline, the lack of highly paid jobs in rural areas, which demographically imbalances a low population density. The concern, some may argue, has almost come too late to preserve the identity, culture and language of rural Welsh communities.

2. Are anti poverty/ deprivation activities best dealt with by the Welsh Assembly Government or Local Authorities? Why?

There is growing recognition in many reports and studies undertaken on the problems facing rural Wales that communities depend on a range of services and infrastructures to survive.

Any new initiative developed within rural areas of Wales must involve an integrated community development plan with full participation from local people who live in that community. Such a plan must incorporate housing and employment issues as well as issues relating to schools, travel, village amenities and other factors which will contribute to a confident and sustainable community.

Resources need to be pooled across a number of services because each individual organisation cannot afford to resource and support communities at a dispersed level.

We believe that Local Authorities and local statutory services are best placed to deal flexibly, with local knowledge, and effective co-ordination of different contributions to anti-poverty and deprivation activities. However, WAG must play a role in setting the desired outcomes with an infrastructure of guidance, good practice, support and funding.

3.i) What anti-poverty/ deprivation initiatives (Welsh Assembly Government or Local Authority) are you aware of?

There are currently three Rural Housing Enablers working in Gwynedd, Powys and Pembrokeshire. The RHEs act as independent brokers working in partnership with the local community for their benefit and are currently funded by Local Authorities and Housing Associations.

Establishing the actual housing needs in rural areas is problematic: many young people who for example, are currently living at home with their parents, are unaware of their right to register for social housing; in other instances, they perceive there is little or no chance of them being allocated a property (because of the current points system), therefore they don’t register their need.

The other major issue relates to the conundrum of "no stock, no need” i.e. if a rural community currently has no social landlord housing stock there will not be a register for the area and therefore no perceived need for social housing in that area.

Raising awareness of the importance of registering need in rural communities is one of the main functions of the RHE. Other functions include, facilitating communication between land-owners, the housing and planning departments and the community in an open and honest way. The independence and impartiality of the RHE is key to the success of the project in those areas where they are located.

3.ii) Do these anti-poverty/ deprivation policies adequately address the needs of rural areas?

The RHE project is starting to make progress in the areas in which they operate, however, the very nature of the process i.e. involving the community at all stages, is time-consuming and there are generally no 'quick-win’ scenarios. This isn’t acceptable to all funders of the project.

Other external influences such as NIMBYs, planning policies and the reduction in the Social Housing Grant can all hinder the progress of the development of small housing schemes in rural communities. In addition, the lack of guaranteed continued funding for the RHE project by the Welsh Assembly Government also threatens the stability of the project.

4. What specific measures would you like to see implemented by the Welsh Assembly Government to deal with anti-poverty/ deprivation issues in rural areas?

The specific measures that TPAS Cymru would like to see implemented are to increase the level of social housing provision within rural communities, and to publicise that social housing is available in these communities. All too often the development or social housing in rural communities is not considered by developing Registered Social Landlords, as there is no registered interest for social housing properties in these areas. This isn’t due to the fact that properties are not required in these areas, but because members of the local community do not know that they are entitled to apply for social housing, or think that because there is so little social housing in their community that there is no point in applying because it won’t be allocated to them.

In addition, developing RSLs do not have access to purchasing land available for development in rural areas, and also may have difficulty developing that land due to its location or the complexities of the sites offered.

5. What examples of good practice are you aware of in Wales/ other parts of the UK/ Overseas?

The introduction of Community Housing Land Trusts in England may go some way towards the aiding the development of social and affordable housing within rural Wales.

The premise of the Community Housing Land Trust is that these organisations are able to access land for development of new homes at a favourable arrangement - either at a zero or nominal cost. In addition other local benefits are linked to the development of this land. In an example from England; English Partnerships in Stroud are in the process of developing a former hospital site for social and affordable housing to rent, and with this there is the inclusion of development of a GP clinic for the local community.

The Community Land Trust holds the public subsidy which the land was developed with in perpetuity, so it remains an asset of that community rather than being sold on through the change in housing to the occupiers of the properties.

Community Housing Land Trust traditionally operate within the intermediate housing gap, and therefore have freedom from the constraints of social housing management grant and micro management of housing finance.

The development of properties through the Community Land Trust often has built consent from the community. All too often there can be hostility to the development of new social housing for rent by Registered Social Landlords, even when the social housing properties are a much needed resource within the community. A lot of stigma exists still about the tenure, especially within small and insular rural communities, and this must be overcome.

The allocation of homes from a Community Housing Land Trust development inherently brings with it allocations to those from the local community - therefore allowing the young people from that community to access social and affordable housing within their locality, and sustaining the identity and culture of that community.

6. To what extent are the following groups (young people/ economically inactive/economically active and older people) living in poverty/ deprivation in rural Wales?

Older people often aren’t able to down-size in rural areas because of the lack of sheltered accommodation etc. in their communities. This also obviously reduces number of suitable properties for families. Also, the lack of affordable housing in rural areas means that families/carers of older, disabled people often have to travel to provide care/support as they can’t afford to live close to their family.

The impact of the rural situation also impacts on the availability of child care for those families within rural areas, i.e. family members often don’t have immediate access to care and support as relatives may not be able to access affordable housing in location that is convenient to the family member that requires that support. This therefore has an impact on those who may want to access employment, but need support to do so.

Generally speaking, people in rural areas are less aware of their rights than their counterparts in urban areas and the example of young people not registering their need for housing is indicative of this fact.

7. How do the problems of the 4 population groups differ across rural Wales (for example between areas in West Wales and East Wales)?
The impact across Wales on access to affordable housing within a community may be affected by the location of that community, through the influence of larger conurbations and those who chose to commute to work - i.e. an impact may be seen in the areas around the north east of Wales through the influence of Liverpool and Manchester, whilst those in the west of Wales may be unable to access affordable housing because of the use of that housing stock as second homes/ holiday homes.

8. How can these be addressed by the Welsh Assembly Government?

TPAS Cymru in partnership with a number of other agencies recently contributed to the JRF consultation events on the provision of affordable housing in rural Wales.

The events were attended by members of rural communities and anecdotal evidence from these consultation events revealed that the members of these communities felt that the Welsh Assembly Government paid little attention to their concerns and circumstances, especially with regard to the fact that there seemed to be no recognition of the differences in the issues which affect rural / urban areas.

In addition, members of these communities also stated that there was a need for a more flexible planning approach in rural areas to respond to the specific needs of those rural communities.