Housing Needs Survey Results

Housing

• Average property prices of £300,000 within Lamerton in 2022, decreasing by 4.2% from £312,500 in 2021. 
  • It should be noted that house prices have fluctuated within the parish over recent years. 
• 7.2% of homes are 1 bedroom properties, 21.8% are 2 bedrooms, 38.6% are 3 bedrooms, 32.5% are 4 or more (which is higher than the 21.1% average for England and Wales). 
• Occupancy ratings for bedrooms: 
  • 54.4% have 2 or more spare rooms, 
  • 26.9% have 1 spare bedroom, 
  • 18.7% have the right number of bedrooms, 
  • 1.1% are lacking 1 bedroom. 
• Of the households in the parish, 41.2% own their home outright, 17.9% own with a mortgage or shared ownership, 11.3% live in social rented housing and 16.5% live in private rented accommodation or live rent free.

Renting in Lamerton

• Average 2 bed private rental prices of £1,175 per calendar month between 2020 and 2022 (median). 
  • It should be noted that this price is based on furnished properties. 
• The maximum Local Housing Allowance is £583.40 per month for a 2 bed property in this area. 
• In the PL19 postcode area, there has been a 15.5% decrease in demand for rental properties, whilst there has been a 27.8% increase in available listings, in the period between Oct 22 and Oct 23. 
• During the same period, there has been a 36.9% increase in the asking price on Rental Properties in the PL19 postcode area.

Affordable housing

• Current stock (approximate): 
  • Live West - 31 current affordable or social rented stock. 
  • Westward - 7 affordable or social rent 
• There have been 5 Affordable Housing units available through Devon Home Choice, between January 2019 and February 2024. 
• These have been a mix of 2 and 3 bedroom homes.

Devon Home Choice

• 7 applicants registered with a local connection through residence. A further 3 have a local connection through employment or family connection. 
• The average income of households registered on Devon Home Choice with a local connection to Lamerton is £20,285 annually (median).

Education

• Lamerton Church of England Primary School provides for children aged 4 years until 11 years. 
• The number of children enrolled at the school has fluctuated in recent years, but overall, has experienced a slight decline in school roll. The number of pupils enrolled in 2023 remains below the school’s capacity of 56. 
• The percentage of children eligible for Free School Meals has also fluctuated within the same period, but decreased overall. This is an indicator of income and affordability of essential provisions.

From the census

• 18.6% travel less than 10km to their work place. 35.9% work mainly from home. 
• 47.3% of the parish population are economically active and in employment, 1.2% are unemployed. 51.5% are economically inactive. 
• 23.4% of households in the parish are single person households. 47.4% are two people households, which is above the average for England. 14.6% are three person households, and 14.6% are four or more person households. 
• 88.8% provide no unpaid care. 2.5% provide 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week. 2.3% provide 20 to 49 hours a week, and 6.3% provide 19 hours or less a week.

Housing Needs Survey

• The most recent Housing Needs Survey in the parish was carried out in 2021. 
• The survey identified need for up to 8 affordable homes in the 5 years following the survey. 
• Of the 8 homes, 5 were recommended that they could afford low cost home ownership, such as Shared Ownership. 
• This was suggested to be a mix of 5 x 1 or 2 bed homes for singles/couples, 1 x 2 bed home for families, and 1 x 3 bed homes for families. 
• The response rate to this survey was 35%, with 69% of the respondents saying that they would be in favour of a small development of affordable housing for local people.