Application for 61 residential dwellings on land south of Puriton Hill Further details about the Puriton public consultation meeting: Friday 5 June, 5 – 7pm
PUBLIC CONSULTATION MEETING AT PURITON VILLAGE HALL
Friday 5 June 2015, 5 – 7pm
Your comments from February’s meetings have been considered and revisions and answers will be presented to local residents on 5 June. The following representatives will be at the event to answer any questions you may have:
Developer Coln Residential – Roger Brennan, Managing Director, will present the revised plans.
Affordable housing provider Rentplus – Richard Connolly, CEO, will explain the rent to buy tenure.
Housing association Tamar Housing – Julie Barnett, CEO, will explain the tenant selection process, how P4 relates to the affordable housing product and ongoing management of affordable housing.
Sedgemoor District Council – Duncan Harvey, Affordable Housing Policy and Development Manager, will detail the results of the recent Housing Needs survey and implications for future housing supply in the village.
Property Link Consultants – Toni Hammick, Agent and Planning Consultant, will update residents on the up-to-date planning position.
We hope to see you there.
Rentplus housing model to deliver 5,000 homes over next five years. A new rent-to-own housing model that will give thousands of tenants their first step onto the housing ladder has been launched with plans to deliver 5,000 affordable homes across England by 2020.
The new model has been created by housing company Rentplus with the financial backing of private and institutional investors and the first agreements to deliver 900 homes have been approved by Plymouth City Council and Sedgemoor District Council.
The company is currently closing the first £70m of institutional funding as part of an overall plan to raise £600m – £700m of institutional investment over the next five years.
Rentplus brings together local authorities, national and regional house builders, developers and housing associations in a partnership to build much-needed new affordable homes to help tackle the nation’s housing crisis.
Rentplus is working with local housing associations to provide new purpose built homes available at affordable rents for an agreed period of between five and 20 years.
At the end of their rental agreements, tenants will be given the opportunity to purchase their property and will receive a ten per cent gifted deposit from Rentplus to help their mortgage application, although tenants will not be obliged to buy.
Construction work on the first development of 29 properties at Mannamead in Plymouth, 13 of which will be Rentplus homes, will begin in April. Tamar Housing Society, the leading housing association in Rentplus’ consortium in the South West, will manage the Rentplus properties in Plymouth.
Rentplus Chief Executive, Richard Connolly, said:
“We are delighted to launch Rentplus and to announce the first large scale agreements with Plymouth City Council and Sedgemoor District Council to commence the delivery of 500 new affordable homes in Plymouth and 400 across Sedgemoor. Rentplus offers the best of affordable renting and home ownership rolled into one. It will give many people the opportunity to own their own home for the first time and will enable local authorities to increase the affordable housing stock and reduce housing waiting lists.
“The ten per cent gifted deposit is a unique feature of Rentplus that will make a huge difference to many tenants struggling to put money aside. Unlike other proposed rent-to-own models, Rentplus is already a reality with the first development now underway in Plymouth and the business has the strong financial backing to enable sustained and rapid growth.”
Chief Executive of Tamar Housing Society, Julie Barnett, said:
“Rentplus gives Tamar Housing Society the opportunity to help meet the needs of many local households who aspire to home ownership but are unable to save a deposit due to high private sector rents. We will offer support and guidance to help tenants to move into home ownership which is often a stressful time for any first-time buyer.
“As a smaller local registered provider, Rentplus homes will enable Tamar to grow and increase our turnover which, in turn, means that we can offer a wider range of services to all of our residents. Rentplus is an exciting new affordable housing product which we are proud to support and promote nationwide.”
As part of the company’s ambitious plans for growth, the Rentplus team is already working extensively with representatives of national and regional house builders and has secured further significant interest from local authorities across England.
The Rentplus model has been created by teams from developer Pillar Land Securities and housing association Tamar Housing Society. The Rentplus Board comprises senior figures from the world of business, including Chairman John Gildersleeve; also the Chairman of British Land.
Mr Gildersleeve said:
“We have a unique opportunity to deliver an alternative solution to the country’s housing crisis while supporting the home ownership aspirations of the many thousands of people who feel locked out of the housing market. Rentplus is a sound and ethical investment that will benefit all those involved. Tenants have the chance to realise home ownership, local authorities increase their housing supply without grant funding and the increased work for house builders and developers will create jobs and help the economy.”
Rentplus will be launched at the Chartered Institute of Housing’s South West Conference and Exhibition (stand number 41) held at The Riviera Centre in Torquay from 15-17 April, 2015.
Ends
For more information, please contact Rebecca Jackson or Simon Baylis
on 0845 4567 251 / [email protected] / [email protected]
Notes to editors
The development of the former Mannamead Centre at Eggbuckland Road will offer 29 new houses including 13 affordable homes using the RentPlus model which provides tenants with a new way of eventually buying their own home. The site is being developed by Pillar Land Securities Ltd and the new homes will exceed energy requirements. It will be the first RentPlus site in Plymouth and one of the first in the country.
Plymouth City Council brought the site forward for housing development under the Get Plymouth Building programme. All the homes are to be built to the Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4 and renewable energy will be generated by solar photovoltaic panels.
Councillor Chris Penberthy, Cabinet Member for Cooperatives, Housing and Community Safety for Plymouth City Council, said: “The site at the former Mannamead Centre forms part of our Get Plymouth Building programme which aims to help increase and accelerate the delivery of new and greener homes in the city.
“It also provides much needed affordable housing in the city. Compared with the national picture we have lower levels of owner occupation and higher levels of private renting in Plymouth. Many young people are still finding it difficult to buy their first home in the city, with the average age of first time buyers now around 37. In Plymouth, 40 per cent of households earn less than £20,000 a year, while the cheapest homes in the city cost an eye-watering 6.3 times the lowest salary.
“I was particularly impressed by the approach by the applicants, Pillar Land Securities, to engaging and consulting with local residents throughout the planning application process.
“Housing is unaffordable for people on low incomes, there is not enough affordable housing to meet rising demand and in response to this we have worked with RentPlus to help first time buyers get onto the housing ladder. We have agreed to work together with RentPlus in Plymouth to deliver 500 homes over the next five years. This development at Mannamead is a significant first step to help deliver on this ambition.”
The development will also include 20 per cent of the houses as Lifetime Homes, with design features to enable people to remain in their own homes should their mobility and physical circumstances change.
Rentplus Chief Executive, Richard Connolly, continued: “We are delighted to be working with Plymouth City Council to deliver an exciting new model of affordable housing. Rentplus homes are designed to provide the opportunity for aspirational families to purchase their Rentplus home with a gifted deposit after an initial period of affordable rent.
“Never have house prices been so expensive and never has the requirement for a deposit been so great. Rentplus provides a pathway to home ownership allowing tenants to live in a new energy efficient home and have a hope of saving a deposit from taxed income.
“Our homes will be managed by Tamar Housing Society to ensure excellent local customer service to tenants aspiring to home ownership.”
Pillar Land Securities is a well-established development company covering the South West. Richard Pillar, Chairman said: “We are delighted to be commencing works on this very exciting project. Hartley Gardens will provide a beautiful collection of 29 high quality contemporary homes built to a high specification in the heart of Mannamead. We are proud to be delivering the first 13 Rentplus homes in Plymouth enabling first time buyers the opportunity to take their first steps on the housing ladder.”