The latest Housing Needs Survey, carried out across all households in Hambledon, has just been published and full details are available here:
The first is a copy of the survey and the second is an executive summary.
The survey was carried out by Surrey Community Action at the request of Hambledon Parish Council and it follows the acquisition of Orchard Farm by the English Rural Housing Association.
Of the 314 survey questionnaires sent out 261 households responded – an 83.12 per cent return. Across the country a 10 to 35 per cent return rate is common, so the Hambledon response has been described as “outstanding” and demonstrates how engaged the village is.
Last autumn the ERHA informed Hambledon Parish Council that it had acquired Orchard Farm, a nine-acre former livery yard off Wormley Lane, and was proposing building 17 homes, 12 of which would be affordable. The remainder would be sold on the open market, including a replacement for the existing dilapidated farmhouse, to help subsidise the cost of the affordable properties.
The last Housing Needs Survey was carried out in 2010 and this established that six local families were registered as being in housing need. The 2015 survey suggests that 15 households require some form of affordable housing.
No planning application has yet been submitted and the ERHA is still taking into account its local consultation. However it has confirmed that it is not planning on reducing the number of houses it wishes to build.
The new homes would occupy approximately just over half the site and the remainder of the land would be gifted to the village as open space, subject to a satisfactory arrangement.
ERHA is also consulting with engineers to resolve drainage and flooding issues that currently cause problems to residents living near to Orchard Farm.
ERHA and its architects are still working on the detail of the housing proposal and it is unlikely that it will be ready to submit a planning application until May at the earliest. The application will be determined by Waverley Borough Council, the local planning authority.
Hambledon Parish Council will be invited to comment on the application in due course.