Housing Needs Survey Results

Housing

• Average property prices of £490,000 within Drewsteignton in 2023, decreasing by 14.3% from £560,000 in 2022. 
• It should be noted that house sale prices have fluctuated within the parish in recent years. 
• 3.5% of homes are 1 bedroom properties, 24.5% are 2 bedrooms, 34.3% are 3 bedrooms, 37.8% are 4 or more (which is higher than the 21.1% average for England and Wales). 
• Occupancy ratings for bedrooms: 
  • 51.2% have 2 or more spare bedrooms, 
  • 33.1% have 1 spare bedroom, 
  • 14.2% have the correct number of bedrooms for their household need, 
  • 1.2% are lacking 1 bedroom, 
  • 0.3% are lacking 2 or more bedrooms. 
• Of the households in the parish, 48.8% own their home outright, 26.9% own with a mortgage or shared ownership, 9.6% live in social rented accommodation and 14.6% live in private rented accommodation or live rent free

Renting in Drewsteignton

• Average 2 bed private rental prices of £775 per calendar month between 2020 and 2022 (median). 
• The maximum Local Housing Allowance is £792.83 per month for a 2 bed property 
• In the EX20 postcode area, there has been a 28.8% decrease in demand for rental properties, whilst there has been a 16.2% decrease in available listings, in the period between Sept 22 and Sept 23. 
• During the same period, there has been a 11.3% increase in the asking price on Rental Properties in the EX20 postcode area.

Affordable housing

• Current stock (approximate): Live West - 20 current social/affordable rented stock. 
• There have been 2 Affordable Housing units available through Devon Home Choice, between January 2019 and April 2024. 
• This included 1 x 1 bed flat and 1 x 3 bed house.

Devon Home Choice

• 7 applicants registered with a local connection through residence. 
• A further 2 have a local connection through family connection. 
• The average income of households registered on Devon Home Choice with a local connection to Drewsteignton is £20,400 annually (median).

Education

• There is no education provision within the parish. From the parish boundary at the settlement of Whiddon Down, the nearest school is just over 3 miles away in the neighbouring parish of South Tawton. 
• South Tawton Primary School provides for children aged 2 years until 11 years. The number of children enrolled at the school has decreased in recent years. The number of pupils remains considerably below the school’s capacity of 240. 
• The percentage of children eligible for Free School Meals has increased within the same period. This is an indicator of income and affordability of essential provisions.

From the census

• 12% travel less than 10km to their work place. 37% work mainly from home. 
• 59.6% of the parish population are economically active and in employment, 1.8% are unemployed. 38.5% are economically inactive. 
• 23.1% of households in the parish are single person households. 43.1% are two people households, which is above the average for England. 15% are three person households, and 18.8% are four or more person households. 
• 88.9% provide no unpaid care. 3.5% provide 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week. 2% provide 20 to 49 hours a week, and 5.6% provide 19 hours or less a week. 
• 50.1% of households are not deprived in any dimension. 33.7% are deprived in one dimension, and 11.8% deprived in two dimensions.