Rural Affordable Housing Project
The Rural Affordable Housing Project is a joint initiative between Defra and the HCA.
The project has the overarching objective of supporting local authorities and their partners’ efforts to increase and accelerate delivery of affordable housing in rural areas – focussing on settlements with a population fewer than 3,000 people.
Settlements with a population fewer than 3,000 reflect the smaller villages and hamlets that the ‘challenges of unaffordable homes, low wages and declining services are at their greatest’ – Taylor Review, p12
All settlements with a population fewer than 3,000 can be identified via the Rural Settlement Gazetteer. There are 16,100 such settlements, with a total population of 5.8 million
The above objective is within the context of helping to set up future delivery, help enable local authority policies to have full regard to the housing aspirations across small rural communities, inform ‘rural proofing’ of HCA and partner policies related to investment in and delivery of affordable housing and ensuring long-term stewardship of the project’s aims.
The Rural Affordable Housing Project has engaged more than 60 local authorities, partner organisations and stakeholders, identifying ways that support can be provided and objectives achieved.
Independent studies have been commissioned to support the project’s objectives. The topics of study identified by local authority officers and partners as areas that they would benefit from further research, knowledge and guidance (see Further Support).
To ensure long-term stewardship, which involves continually updating and revising ways to overcome barriers to delivery, a Rural Enabling Guide has been devised - supporting a solutions-focused approach to future delivery.
In 2008, the Rural Housing Advisory Group recommended that a project should be initiated that raises awareness of the issues concerned, investigates delivery challenges, implements solutions and identifies, collates and disseminates good practice across the country.
Delivery challenges which local authorities need to address have also been well documented throughout the past decade. The overarching issues relate to: (i) community engagement; (ii) local authority policy and practice; (iii) rural affordable housing as a strategic priority; and (iv) considerations related to finance. Without proper regard to these issues, the evidence suggests that successful delivery cannot be achieved.
Good practice can be defined as policy and procedure which helps to overcome challenges and barriers. With that in mind, it is apparent that there is a great deal of good practice taking place across the country – clearly evidenced by the fact we can see delivery of affordable housing across rural communities. It is clear, however, that delivery needs to increase and accelerate if our aims and objectives surrounding sustainability of small rural settlements are to be met. The challenge of affordable housing scarcity set against projected population rises will escalate unless we can increase the deliverability of affordable homes.[1] Sharing existing good practice across the country is an important step towards achieving this.
The Rural Affordable Housing Project has identified existing policies and procedures across the country that can help address the negative impact associated with the issues raised throughout the project dialogues.
The examples of good practice have been applied to a solutions-focused approach that provides options for local authority officers, development managers, partnership co-ordinators, Rural Housing Enablers, senior management and political leaders, and local communities to unblock schemes and deliver housing in a strategic and proactive manner.
[1] Holmans, A., Monk, S., and Whitehead, C., (2008) Homes for the Future – A new analysis of housing need and demand in England, Cambridge: University of Cambridge/Shelter
