5 new affordable homes for Langham

Affordable homes for first-time buyers are to be built as part of Langham’s village development.

The development will see 18 new houses in total, but 5 of them will be designated as affordable housing under the “first homes scheme”.

The homes will be offered at a 30% reduced price to first-time buyers who have a local connection to Rutland or who are key workers.

The proposed site, which is north of Cold Overton Road, has had outline planning permission since 2020.

However, the developer had been unsuccessfully seeking a registered provider for affordable homes ever since. It's because providers want to build the homes on a larger scale, which isn't compatible with the smaller size of the proposed site.

Andrew Waskett-Burt, the Planning Officer for Rutland County Council, said that through modifying the application by placing it under the “first homes schemes”, affordable homes can still be created:

“So they have modified the application on the advice of our housing strategy officer bringing it forward as a ‘first homes scheme’.

“The effect of this is that while the five units still fall within the definition of ‘affordable housing’, they can be sold at a 30 per cent discount to first-time buyers only who have a local connection, either working in Rutland or being a keyworker.

“The reason the developer can’t find a registered provider is because all of the ones they have approached say they want much larger schemes, with a minimum of 15 affordable homes, or it is simply not economically viable for them to look at.”

Councillor Raymond Payne from Rutland County Council said it was “disappointing” that companies won’t build affordable homes for smaller sites:

“I just wanted to say for the record how very disappointing it is that the people who we hope would be building affordable homes have set themselves a bar at 15 homes-plus, before they will even be bothered to look at this site.

“That is going to have a lot of negative connotations for some of the smaller sites in our villages.”

Councillor Abigail West said she supported the amendment to the scheme, making five homes for local first-time buyers:

“When I was buying my first house, if I’d have been able to buy an affordable house which allowed me to purchase it without having to live off baked beans and soup noodles, it would’ve been absolutely wonderful.

“So many affordable homes are built for rent, or offered only through social housing – there are very few opportunities for local people to actually buy their first home and get onto the housing ladder themselves, so I think this application is wonderful.”

Members approved the amended application unanimously.