The high price of housing in many rural areas often means that young people have to relocate to find an affordable place to live. When the only people who can afford to live in our rural settlements are those who commute to work in the larger towns and cities, communities can become dormitory in nature and the social and economic mix of the area can become unbalanced.
Providing good quality rural affordable housing is a key priority. This is a complex and often lengthy process and we have a team of rural housing enablers to ensure that resources and expertise are on hand for rural communities.
Our enablers offers free, impartial advice to support the development of affordable housing for local people. They offer step-by-step guidance and support to deliver new high-quality housing that meet the needs of communities and fit in with the local environment. They work with community and parish councils and have the skills and expertise to:
- undertake a parish wide survey to assess local housing need
- work with the parish council and others, such as housing associations, to explore ways of meeting identified housing need
- liaise with landowners and local authority housing and planning departments to identify possible sites
- facilitate community consultations
- help to secure funding for affordable housing
- act as an honest broker between parties as the project progresses, ensuring that the community is able to participate
Working across the area and sharing ideas and experiences, our rural housing enablers can put you in touch with communities that have developed rural affordable homes, arrange visits to give you a better understanding of the process and demonstrate the positive impact developments have had in communities similar to yours.
They work with communities and partners to increase rural affordable housing to enable local people/workers on modest incomes to stay or return to their village. Developments of this kind can help villages to thrive.