Housing Needs Survey Results

Housing

• Average property prices of £266,500 in 2023, decreasing by 18.6% from £316,000 in 2022. 
  • It should be noted that house prices have fluctuated in recent years within the parish. 
• In the parish, 7.4% of homes are 1 bedroom properties, 32.4% are 2 bedrooms, 42.3% are 3 bedrooms, 18% are 4 or more (which is below the 21.1% average for England and Wales). 
• Occupancy ratings for bedrooms: 
  • 34% have 2 or more spare bedrooms, 
  • 42.3% have 1 spare bedroom, 
  • 21.7% have the correct number of bedrooms for their household need, 
  • 1.5% are lacking 1 bedroom and 
  • 0.5% are lacking 2 or more bedrooms.

Renting in Sparkwell

• Average 2 bed private rental prices of £900 per calendar month between 2020 and 2022 (median). 
• The maximum Local Housing Allowance is £583.40 per month for a 2 bed property

Affordable housing

• Current stock (approximate): 
  • Live West - 44 rented accommodation. 
  • Guinness - 17 rented accommodation, and 6 shared ownership. 
  • Willowtree - 4 rented accommodation and 7 Rent Plus units. 
• Turnover of 17 affordable homes between Jan 2019 and March 2024 included 6 x 1 beds, 7 x 2 beds and 4 x 3 bed properties. 
• These were a mix of nine bungalows and eight houses.

Devon Home Choice

• 9 applicants registered with a local connection through residence 
• 3 applicants registered with a local connection through immediate family connection. 
• The average income of households registered with Devon Home Choice with a local connection to Sparkwell is £12,000 annually (median).

Sparkwell All Saints Primary School

• Sparkwell All Saints Primary School provides for children aged 4 years until 11 years. 
• The number of children enrolled at the school has fluctuated in recent years and has remained slightly lower than its capacity of 105 pupils. 
• The percentage of children eligible for Free School Meals has fluctuated during the same period, but has experienced a slight increase overall. This is an indicator of income and affordability of essential provisions.

From the census

• 29.3% travel less than 10km to their work place. 27.3% work mainly from home. 
• 61.5% of the parish population are economically active and in employment, 2.1% are unemployed. 36.3% are economically inactive compared to the average for Devon at 43.6%.
• 32.9% of households owns their home outright, compared to the 42.2% average for Devon and the 45% average for the South Hams. 31.9% own with mortgage or shared ownership, 15% social rent their properties, 20.2% private rent or live rent free. 
• 26.8% of households in the parish are single person households. 38.9% are two people households, which is above the average for England. 18.2% are three person households, and 16.1% are four or more person households. 
• 90.1% provide no unpaid care. 3.6% provide 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week. 2% provide 20 to 49 hours a week, and 4.3% provide 19 hours or less a week. 
• 50% of households are not deprived in any dimension, which is above the average for England, at 48.4%. 33.6% are deprived in one dimension, and 14.3% deprived in two dimensions.