Eynsford Housing Needs Survey

Eynsford Housing Needs Survey January 2021

Sevenoaks District Council as part of a 5 year programme is looking at local housing needs. In November 2020 they approached Rural Kent Action with Communities to undertake a survey within Eynsford to establish whether there was a need for affordable housing for people who live in or have close ties to Eynsford. There was also an opportunity to investigate the needs of older households who may be in need of alternative housing.

Rural Kent Action with Communities is a charity that provides direct advice and support to community organisations by developing and managing projects, providing information guidance and networking opportunities to help rural communities identify and address local needs.

The Parish Council were happy for this to be undertaken as it would give an overall picture of the housing requirements. A survey was posted to every household and out of 845 distributed, 167 surveys were returned - a 20% response rate.

The survey covered all aspects of living within the village including size of house, whether owned or rented. How long people had lived in the village and whether family members had had to move away. It also asked whether residents supported a small development of affordable housing. A second part of the survey asked those people who deemed themselves in need of alternative housing to answer some questions.

From the surveys returned, 92% of respondents were owner occupiers and 75% had lived in Eynsford for over 10 years. People completing the second part of the survey revealed there was a need for five affordable homes and eleven homes for older households.

Lots of comments accompanied the survey bringing into focus the need for affordable housing but respecting the green belt. Traffic, parking and infrastructure questions were also raised to support any further housing.

Next steps for the Parish Council will be working with RKAC and Sevenoaks District Council, to consider the results from the survey and how this fits into the affordable housing programme for the district.

You can read the full report from Rural Kent here .