And the Observer has learned that in Midhurst, 384 households are chasing just 23 homes this year. Nearly 200 of those on the Midhurst waiting list and almost half the Petworth families have a local connection.

The rising number of familes looking for social housing had reached 'crisis' proportions, Petworth parish councillors were told last week.

Helen Burton, assistant director of housing at Chichester District Council (CDC) said the situation was reflected across the district where nearly 5,000 families were chasing 300 properties.

"If I am blatantly honest," she said, "some people will never get housed."

And she warned that particularly in the lowest priority group: "We need as a council to get much better about getting the message across that people need to be looking at other housing options."

She said the district council recognised it was now in 'such dire straits' that it needed to change the way it operated and to work much more closely with towns and parishes to look at ways to develop local lettings plans.

The average wait on the district council's housing list was now seven years, parish councillors were told.

In Petworth, housing enabling officer Sam Irving said 220 households required immediate rehousing and 122 of those had a local connection.

But the bleak picture is there are just 271 social housing units in the town and the turnover is declining every year.

In Petworth there are only eight available this year and in Midhurst the turnover has gone down from 40 in 2005/2006 to just 23 this year.
"With the current economic climate," Mr Irving said, "repossessions are likely to get worse and our lists are likely to go up ridiculously."

Petworth councillors are concerned that government regulations ban housing authorities from giving local people priority when desperately-needed houses become vacant.

And Mr Irving said the crucial issue was to try to identify sites outside settlement boundaries – known as H9 sites – where specially-permitted developments could be built, giving local people priority.

He urged Petworth parish councillors to 'keep their ears to the ground" and work with him to identify sites.

But parish councillors said the Petworth Action Plan had already searched for sites and land was in desperately short supply.

Tony Sneller said the 'Community Build' wing of the Enterprise Partnership was currently distributing a survey on affordable housing in the town to get a picture of individual needs.

"Already we have information, including a family who have been waiting nine years for a house. They have two children, a boy and a girl, who are having to share a bedroom – it's a classic case."

He said the solution lay in obtaining land, outside the settlement boundary, where social houses owned by the community could be built.

"We have already had discussions with the Leconfield Estate," he told the meeting. "The answer is to have community-owned homes where we say who can have a house. It would have to be a shared equity scheme."

But he warned it was a long-term project which could take at least five years to come forward.

Petworth planning committee chairman Neville Fox said there were 40 units becoming available in Petworth off Littlecote, at Wyndham Road, Pound Close and at Hampers Green.

But, he said, using district council statistics, only two of these would be let to Petworth people.

"We all know how tight land is in Petworth – we can't get our hands on any and it's a serious problem.

"We haven't had an H9 site for a number of years and I can't foresee any coming up."

* Petworth's Community Build survey forms can be obtained from the CDC office in Petworth, the library or from Mr Sneller on 01798 343124





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