Housing
Housing is central to people’s lives and is important to both physical health and wellbeing. Delivering the right housing to meet the needs of Wiltshire residents involves making the best use of current housing assets, delivering new housing where needed and addressing the housing problems currently facing residents such as affordability, sustainability and suitability.
Wiltshire Council, together with its partners works to deliver good quality and affordable homes in areas where people want to work and live, which in turn is important to Wiltshire’s economic development and regeneration. Delivering the right accommodation in the right places helps people to sustain their accommodation for longer, resulting in less upheaval for families and is a positive factor in sustaining education and employment.
This page provides a range of key indicators relating to housing in Wiltshire and is intended as a resource to help identify local priorities at community area level. The report covers the use of social and private housing stock, house prices and housing development. The data is designed to help communities to understand local issues and to develop community-led work to improve local outcomes.
The information below covers the following areas:
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Links to other thematic areas
Median house prices, January - June 2019
This is an overall median per area encompassing all types of housing e.g. flats, terraced housing, semi detached and detached properties etc.
Definition: Median price paid, residential properties.
Data Source and Time Period: Land Registry Price Paid Dataset, 01/01/2019 - 30/06/2019.
Proportion of second homes
In October 2019, there were 1,560 reported second homes in Wiltshire. This number has been relatively stable over time but the figures highlight how the provision of a railway station in relatively rural settlements appears to affect the percentage of second homes in that area (Tisbury, for example).
Definition: Dwellings reported as second homes as a percentage of chargeable dwellings on the Council Tax database.
Data Source and Time Period: Wiltshire Council, Revenues and Benefits, October 2019.
Proportion of long-term (6+ months) empty homes
In October 2019, there were 1,675 homes in Wiltshire reported as having been empty for 6 months or more. This reflects a number of local factors, including an ageing population leaving complex estates and high numbers of retirement flats. We also have some estates where landlords have chosen to keep homes empty.
Definition: Dwellings reported as long-term empty homes as a percentage of chargeable dwellings on the Council Tax database.
Data Source and Time Period: Wiltshire Council, Revenues and Benefits, October 2019.
Proportion of households under-occupied by people aged 65+
Within Wiltshire there is some variation in terms of under occupancy by persons aged 65 and over. Mere, Tisbury, Southern Wiltshire and Bradford on Avon Community Areas have 25% or more of their housing stock defined as under occupied by persons aged 65 or over. Tidworth has 12% of its housing stock classified as under occupied.
Definition: An occupancy rating provides a measure of whether a household's accommodation is overcrowded or under-occupied. There are two standard measures of occupancy rating, one based on the number of rooms in a household's accommodation, and one based on the number of bedrooms. The figures presented here describe the latter (bedrooms). The ages of the household members and their relationships to each other are used to derive the number of bedrooms they require, based on a standard formula.
Data Source and Time Period: Census, LC4105EW - Occupancy rating (bedrooms) by household composition, 2011.
Energy Performance Certificates
An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is required for properties when constructed, sold or let. This chart shows all EPCs from 2016-18 and suggests a pattern of notably lower energy efficiency among homes in Tisbury, Pewsey and Mere than in the rest of Wiltshire. Warm and Safe Wiltshire is a commitment from Wiltshire Council, Swindon Borough Council and their partners to help residents live in healthier, safer and more energy efficient homes. It aims to do this through, for example, the installation of draught-proofing measures, providing advice on reducing energy use, reducing condensation and damp problems, and controlling heating. For more information please click here.
Definition: EPCs describe the energy performance of a property and what can be done to improve it. The chart includes EPCs for all properties that were constructed, let or sold within the three year period, including those that were let or sold more than once.
Data Source and Time Period: https://epc.opendatacommunities.org/, 2016-2018.
Proportion of households in fuel poverty
A household is considered to be in fuel poverty when its members cannot afford to keep their home well-lit, warm, with hot water and running appliances, given their income. In the South West region as a whole, 10.8% of households were estimated to be living in fuel poverty in 2017, compared with 9.3% in Wiltshire. This represents 19,540 households in Wiltshire, with higher proportions in the community areas of Tisbury, Wilton, Mere and Pewsey. For more information on fuel poverty and the Warm & Safe Wiltshire scheme, please click here.
Definition: Fuel poverty in England is measured using the Low Income High Costs (LIHC) indicator, which considers a household to be fuel poor if they have required fuel costs that are above average (the national median level) and if, were they to spend that amount, they would be left with a residual income below the poverty line.
Data Source and Time Period: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Sub-regional fuel poverty statistics, 2019 (2017 data).
Number of new homes completed, 2016/17 - 2018/19
Overall housing completions have been in excess of the current adopted housing requirement in the three year period April 2016 – March 2019. Housing delivery in the plan period 2006-2026 is keeping pace with the planned housing requirement to date.
Definition: Number of completed new homes.
Data Source and Time Period: Wiltshire Council, Spatial Planning, 2016/17-2018/19.
Number of new homes planned, 2006 - 2026
The Wiltshire Housing Site Allocations Plan seeks to allocate additional land to meet the housing requirement in the current plan period 2006-2026. This Plan is now well-advanced. Work to establish future housing needs up to 2036 is progressing through the Wiltshire Local Plan review programme.
Definition: Number of planned new homes.
Data Source and Time Period: Wiltshire Council, Spatial Planning, 2006-2026.
Number of new affordable homes completed, 2016/17 - 2018/19
Affordable Housing includes Social Rent, Affordable Rent and Intermediate Housing such as Shared Ownership. Affordable Housing enables those who cannot afford to rent or buy properties on the open market to still live in quality homes, but at a more affordable price. Eligibility criteria ensure that the limited availability of this type of housing is managed in a fair and transparent manner. The delivery of Affordable Housing is through Registered Providers (such as Housing Associations and the Council) expanding their existing portfolio as well as private housing developers who must build a percentage of homes as affordable and sell them to a Registered Provider. Wiltshire Council has also embarked on the development of new affordable homes, with 158 new council homes delivered since 2016/17, and an ambition to deliver over 1000 over the next 10 years.
Definition: Number of new affordable homes (social rented, affordable rented and intermediate housing).
Data Source and Time Period: Wiltshire Council, Housing, 2016/17-2018/19.
Snapshot of current demand on the Wiltshire Council housing register for affordable homes by bedsize
Overall demand for affordable rented homes rises each year as it consistently outstrips supply, with only older persons homes, two bedroom flats above the ground floor (in some areas) and some isolated rural homes attracting relatively little interest from housing applicants. Large homes and adaptable/accessible homes are in particularly short supply. High demand for general needs 1 bedroom flats and houses is concentrated in the urban areas, particularly where the proportion of social rented stock is below or near the average for Wiltshire. We advise customers about low cost home ownership and private rented options and, where customers already have social rented homes, by encouraging mutual exchange. Homes4Wiltshire, Housing Options and Customer Services are actively working in the first half of 2020 to re-design the service for customers seeking more suitable accommodation which will ensure customers have good advice at an early stage, as a move to social rented housing may not be the only way to achieve a secure and sustainable home. Another key issue is that homes adaptable to meet the needs of physically disabled/sensorily impaired customers and homes in suitable locations for more vulnerable customers with care needs are limited, and we casework the highest priority applicants with adapted and care needs to help them secure more suitable homes as quickly as practicable. We hope that the service re-design will allow more casework.
Definition: Households on the affordable housing register, by required number of bedrooms.
Data Source and Time Period: Wiltshire Council, Housing, November 2019.
Snapshot of current demand on the Wiltshire Council housing register for affordable adapted homes
In November 2019, 584 households on the affordable housing register were waiting for an adapted home to meet their needs.
Definition: Households on the affordable housing register with a requirement for an adapted home.
Data Source and Time Period: Wiltshire Council, Housing, November 2019.
Number of adaptations made to homes, 2018/19
The council has a statutory duty to provide means-tested Disabled Facilities Grants to adapt the homes of disabled occupiers to make them more suitable for their needs. Residents are assessed by an Occupational Therapist who makes recommendations. For council-owned stock this work is undertaken by the Wiltshire Council Housing team and funded through the Housing Revenue Account.
Number of adaptations made through Disabled Facilities Grants.
Data Source and Time Period: Wiltshire Council, Housing, 2018/19.
Households affected by the benefit cap
The "benefit cap" is a limit on the benefits that can be claimed by a family or individual. Information regarding households affected by the cap is shared across a number of departments, which triggers a range of actions, including Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP). 50% of those capped are in receipt of DHP. Numbers are low as a result of lower than average rents and the efforts made by those affected to find work.
Definition: Households affected by the benefit cap, crude rate per 1,000 occupied households.
Data Source and Time Period: Wiltshire Council, Revenues and Benefits, October 2019.
Number of people sleeping rough, rate per 10,000 population
The number of people sleeping rough is based on a bi-monthly count that takes place across Wiltshire. We conduct a 5am count, to count anyone sleeping rough. We also base our intelligence on information from the Police/Streetlink and Housing as well as our statutory annual street estimate that is carried out in November each year.
Definition: People identified as rough sleeping, rate per 10,000 population.
Data Source and Time Period: Wiltshire Council, Housing, January 2020 and Office for National Statistics, 2018 mid-year estimates.
Units of emergency temporary accommodation
Homeless households may be placed in emergency temporary accommodation. There has been a recent decline in numbers of temporary accommodation units with some private sector leased properties being sold by landlords due to the housing market conditions. The reduced number of units remains challenging in terms of demand but we are delighted that this was another year that we could deliver a temporary accommodation provision without needing to use Bed & Breakfast.
Definition: Number of emergency temporary accommodation units.
Data Source and Time Period: Wiltshire Council, Housing, January 2020.