A UNIQUE community housing development is being proposed at Mary Tavy to provide homes for first time buyers currently priced out of the property market. Leweston Developments is planning to build 18 'local need' homes on agricultural land just north of the Royal Standard public house. The development, expected to be a mix of bungalows, semi-detached two and three bedroom homes and terraced homes, will be aimed at young couples on low wages and older couples wishing to downsize, therefore releasing larger homes for families who need them. It is hoped prices will start from around £85,000 to £115,000 with the company retaining 20% of the property so it cannot be sold on without its permission and remains available for local need. The properties would be offered to residents of Mary Tavy, Peter Tavy, Brentor and the adjacent parishes. With the land outside the development boundary, the applicants are hoping Dartmoor National Park looks favourably on this 'exception site' as a way of addressing the problem of affordable housing. It is unique in this area in that most new developments provide some affordable housing but not all. The Local Plan requires at least 35% of all new housing built to be affordable and many developers claim more than that would make their schemes uneconomical. A spokesperson for Leweston Developments said there were many people in a situation where they were paying a fortune in rent but did not have a hope of getting on the property ladder. This scheme was a way of supporting the community, they said. Communications officer for Dartmoor National Park Mike Nendick said this application was a departure from the local plan and was a fairly large development. 'There has been no discussion with the developers at all at this stage and we cannot envisage the application going before the planning committee before March,' he said. Housing affordability is a major issue in West Devon with home ownership now beyond the reach of all but a small minority of first time buyers The average house price in West Devon, as of March last year, was £234,832 which is 11.5 times the average salary of a resident of the borough. At that time there were 1,024 households on the housing waiting list.
