£3 million of devolution cash for affordable North Devon homes

More than 80 homes will be delivered

Nearly £3 million of cash from the Devon and Torbay devolution deal is to be spent on providing good quality homes in Ilfracombe.

North Devon Council is running a pilot project to see if intervening in the Ilfracombe local housing market will help to improve the housing standards of existing low quality homes plus the overall living conditions and wider health of the residents.

The authority will purchase two properties and refurbish them in the first instance and then look at undertaking more renovations as tenants move into the new ‘healthy homes’.

It aims to progress 84 low carbon affordable homes for social rent in Woolacombe, Parracombe, Georgeham, Lynton, West Down and Braunton, some of which are Community Land Trust schemes (CLTs)

The town has areas where life expectancy is ten years lower than other parts of Devon with low grade housing considered to be a contributory factor.

The level of deprivation has been recognised by Devon County Council and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (formerly the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) but funding has so far eluded the town and the council has been unable to get involved in the private rented sector.

Two out of three business case bids to the government have now been successful for a total funding of £2,790,000, which will come from the devolution deal capital fund of £16 million.

It was announced earlier this month that £8 million of the capital fund would be spent on housing projects in East, Mid, North and West Devon, the South Hams and Torquay.

The remaining cash will be spent on green jobs and business growth, accelerating Devon and Torbay’s transition to a net-zero economy and capitalising on the area’s “world-leading expertise” in green science and technology.

A report to North Devon Council said that if the ‘healthy homes’ pilot project was a success, the authority would be able to identify additional low quality, poorly converted properties and do them up.

Improving the environmental performance of the properties would create sustainable accommodation for residents and improve their own disposable income, the report said.

Council funds had already been committed for 27 affordable CLT homes for social rent in Woolacombe and Parracombe but this money would be recirculated to support the build out of another 19 Passivhaus CLT affordable homes in Georgeham and support a further 28 homes through the planning systems at Lynton, West Down and Braunton to take them to delivery stage.

Members of the council supported the projects with Cllr Paul Crabb (Con, Ilfracombe East) thanking officers for the work they had put in on the bids.

“This should really deliver some decent homes and make a difference especially in the poorer areas,” he said.

The council is on a tight timeframe and has to spend the money by March 2025.

A bid by North Devon Council for £25 million from the previous government to transform Ilfracombe failed earlier this year.

Council leader at the time Ian Roome, who is now MP for North Devon, said it was a “huge blow” for the area where 20 per cent of households were living in poverty.

Ilfracombe has a large number of houses of multiple occupation (HMOs), many of which were in a “squalid state” said Cllr Roome.