Townfield Meadows

There are increasing issues around affordability of new housing in the area, with Chichester District being recognised as one of the least affordable places to live outside of London. This is reflected in Government statistics showing the ratio of house prices to residence-based and work-based earnings, which are 13.59 and 14.51 respectively in this area. These are significantly higher than the national average of 7.29, and the regional average of 10.51.

The District Council’s latest housing assessment (2018) breaks down affordability further and identifies the “plan area north” (including Kirdford) as having the highest median house price paid. High prices and low mortgage lending rates are causing households to be “priced out” of the area, so the need for affordable housing within the district – and especially in the northern part including Kirdford – is very high.

There is therefore a pressing need for new housing, especially for new affordable housing; however, no new affordable housing has been delivered within Kirdford Parish since 2008. The lack of affordable housing has been further exacerbated by the Right to Buy – since its introduction, 53 homes in Kirdford have been sold under the Right to Buy, accounting for 40% of the original affordable housing stock within the parish. There are now only 78 affordable homes within the Parish.

We are also aware that part of the site is identified within the Kirdford Neighbourhood Plan for a mix of sporting, community and residential uses, with the remainder of the site identified by Chichester District Council as suitable for residential uses within its recent Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA) 2020 (site ref: HKD0001b). To accord with this objective, the proposals seek to provide a Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA), children’s play area and associated clubhouse and parking area. The aim is to complement and not compete with the existing sporting facilities in the village, broadening the range of recreational opportunities for both current and future residents.

Furthermore, given the age of the current Local Plan, Chichester District Council acknowledge that its housing policies are out of date and that based on the need derived from the Government’s standard methodology the Council can only demonstrate a 4.3 years’ worth of housing land, lower than the required 5 years. In light of this, the Council has approved an Interim Position Statement in order to deliver new housing supply until such time as a new Local Plan is in place. This statement is being used to assess relevant planning applications in order to ensure that any new development being brought forward is appropriate. We consider that the proposals would be in accordance with this Interim Position Statement which is a view shared by Chichester District planning officers following pre-application discussions.

Our proposals would deliver up to 70 new homes, of which up to 21 would be affordable (30% of the total), comprising a mix and range of housing types that would cater for a wide range of age groups and therefore make a meaningful contribution to meeting the housing need in this part of Chichester District.