A Community Housing Needs Survey was carried out recently and the findings have been uploaded to this website in the documents library.  You may openin the document directoly by clicking on this link.  There was a very high response rate and of the many findings, some to highlight include: 

 87% respondents support the need for more affordable housing;

There is a strong consensus that any new housing should be allocated to local people;

There was also strong support for the statement that people have had to leave the area because they have not been able to find suitable housing. This is further evidenced by 43% of respondents having direct experience of friends / family members having to leave the area because they could not find suitable housing; and

The top reasons for people leaving the area were: lack of affordable housing options (35%) and nothing available within budget (31%).

68% of businesses that have had experienced problems recruiting / retaining staff due to a lack of suitable housing locally, this is a frequent and re-occuring problem for most businesses;

Nearly 50% of businesses feel that their staff turnover is impacted by a lack of affordable housing;

68% of businesses currently have existing employees that have a housing need and require housing in the area. A total of 25 employees were identified from the survey that require housing in the area; and

With nearly 70% of businesses hoping to expand in the future, a lack of workers locally and lack of affordable housing were identified as the two most limiting factors to business growth.

The combined results of the resident and non-resident housing needs surveys identified a total of 203 households looking for housing in the Aberfeldy and surrounding area within the next 5 years. 

 

The Trust is holding a community meeting at 7.30pm on Tuesday 27th September at Aberfeldy Town Hall.  This is to share the results of the survey, next actions for the Trust and call for people to become members of the Trust.  We would be delighted if you could attend this.  

 

A representative from the Trust would also be more than happy to attend a Community Council Meeting and share the results of the survey and progress to date.  

 

Best Regards

 

Gill Steele

 

Aberfeldy Development Trust 

SC741068

c/o The Locus Centre, The Square, Aberfeldy, PH15 2DD