Frome residents call for more affordable housing

Kay Turner's family no longer take part in leisure activities due to the rising cost of living

Residents of a Somerset town are calling for more affordable housing and rental properties, saying rising costs are forcing locals out.

Frome has seen a dramatic rise in property and rental prices.

Mum-of-three Kay Turner said: "Within the first year of living here the rent went up by £50, the following year they tried to put it up by £300."

A spokeswoman from housing supplier the Aster Group said demand was so high, "we can't build quick enough".

Mrs Turner, who moved to Frome in 2019, said the cost of living in the town was "difficult" to manage.

"We're questioning what food we buy, how we live, we don't have leisure activities anymore.

"It's literally go to work, go home", she added.

'Cripple us'

Compared to others places in nearby Wiltshire like Trowbridge, Warminster and Westbury, the family worked out costs are around £250 more per month in Frome.

Mrs Turner said: "We've really had to plead with the estate agents to say 'realistically as a family, you will cripple us if you put our rents up'."

She said it would help if the rent was capped and it was in line with mortgage inflation.

"Our rent is £1,200 but we could get a mortgage for between £800-900," she added.

The environmental impact of new housing concerns Jackie Simpson, who wants brownfield sites to be considered

Jackie Simpson has lived in Frome for around 10 years and said they needed proper social housing not just affordable homes.

"It's pushing people out who've been living here for some considerable time and it's becoming a bit of a commuter town", she added.

Jane Gallifent, from the Aster Group, said the demand for affordable housing was a "great priority" in places like Frome, which she called a "high value area" to live and work.

She added: "People living in very desirable affluent areas [are] being priced out of the market, unable to get a foothold onto the property ladder or even the ability to buy to rent privately in the open market."

It is hoped the new Somerset council will work with housing associations to secure land that would "not otherwise be either on the open market or those that are perhaps interested in delivering affordable housing for local people", she added.

Community needs

The new unitary authority will replace Somerset County Council and the current four district councils; Mendip, Sedgemoor, Somerset West and Taunton and South Somerset.

Martin Dimery, of the Green Party, said the authority needs to move planning back to local communities.

"I think for too long Frome has found itself subject to planning considerations by people that live maybe 25 miles (40km) away and perhaps don't understand the particular needs of that community.

"It would be nice to see the local town councils and parish councils in attendance at area planning boards and for those decisions to be made on a more local level", he said.

Leigh Redman, of Labour, said the party want "all decisions to be made at the most local point".

He said: "Too many households are trapped in overpriced privately rented and temporary accommodation with little opportunity to put down roots and flourish."

'Broken system'

Ros Wyke, of the Liberal Democrats, said it wants "to protect our unique county and to develop sensitively so all can afford decent homes".

She said the party "will bring forward a local plan for Somerset to ensure adequate supply of housing, and to give stronger protection to key areas of open land such as green wedges, reduce sprawl and maintain the identity of individual communities ."

David Fothergill, of the Conservatives, said the housing system in Somerset has been "broken for too long".

He said the market has been "driven by large volume house builders and now bureaucracy and regulations could be putting all of our greenfields at risk".

He added that the reorganisation of the council brings the "opportunity to change things… to reform the way the planning system is managed, [and] to put residents first not developers".