Housing Needs Survey Results

Housing

• Average property prices of £378,750 in 2022, decreasing by 24.1% from £470,000 in 2021. 
  • It should be noted that property prices within the parish have fluctuated in recent years. 
• 8.1% of homes are 1 bedroom properties, 29.8% are 2 bedrooms, 35.5% are 3 bedrooms, 26.6% are 4 or more (which is higher than the 21.1% average for England). 
• Occupancy ratings for bedrooms: 
  • 42.7% have 2 or more spare bedrooms, 
  • 35.1% have 1spare bedroom, 
  • 21.8% have the correct number of bedrooms for their household needs, 
  • 0.4% are lacking 1 bedroom.

Renting in Churchstow

• Average 4 bed private rental prices of £1,750 per calendar month between 2020 and 2022. 
  • There are no properties other than 4 beds within the 2 year dataset from Rightmove. 
• The maximum Local Housing Allowance is £897.52 per month for a 4 bed property. 
• In the TQ7 postcode area, there has been a 110.5% increase in demand for rental properties, whilst there has been a 40.5% increase in the number of available listings, when comparing Oct 22 and Oct 23. 
• In the same period, there has been a 29.3% decrease in the asking price on Rental Properties in the TQ7 postcode area

Affordable housing

• Current stock (approximate): Live West - 32 units of affordable or social rented accommodation. 3 shared ownership units. 
• There have been 4 units of affordable housing available to bid on through Devon Home Choice from within the parish between Jan 2019 and Feb 2024. 
• There were a mix of 2 x 1 bed properties, 1 x 2 bed and 1 x 3 bed properties. 
• 3 of the properties were bungalows, all of which were restricted to those over the age of 55. The final property was a house, that didn’t have age restrictions. All properties were advertised for people with a local connection to the parish of Churchstow first.

Devon Home Choice

• There are 6 applicants registered with a local connection through residence 
• There are 10 applicants with a local connection to the parish through immediate family or through employment. 
• The median average income for applicants with a local connection to Churchstow is £21,260 per annum

Primary School

• There is no primary school provision within the parish of Churchstow. There is provision in the neighbouring parish of Aveton Gifford, which is approximately 2 miles from the parish. 
• Aveton CofE Primary School provides for children aged 4 years until 11 years. 
• The number of children enrolled at the school has fluctuated in recent years but remained at a similar level, which is significantly above the school’s capacity of 70 pupils. 
• The percentage of children eligible for Free School Meals has increased by 1.5%. This is an indicator of income and affordability of essential provisions.

From the census

• 27.6% travel less than 10km to their work place. 33.3% work mainly from home. 
• 54.5% of the parish population are economically active and in employment, 4.1% are unemployed. 41.4% are economically inactive compared to the average for Devon at 43.6%. 
• 46.4% of households owns their home outright, compared to the 42.2% average for Devon and the 45% average for the South Hams. 21.8% own with mortgage or shared ownership, 12.9% social rent their properties, 19% private rent or live rent free. 
• 26.5% of households in the parish are single person households. 43.7% are two people households, which is above the average for England (34%). 15.9% are three person households, and 13.9% are four or more person households. 
• 87.7% provide no unpaid care. 4% provide 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week. 1.1% provide 20 to 49 hours a week, and 7.3% provide 19 hours or less a week.
• 44.8% of households are not deprived in any dimension, which is below the average for England, at 48.4%. 37.9% are deprived in one dimension, and 15.7% deprived in two dimensions.