HCA Rural Team

The HCA invests in rural areas to address problems of housing affordability and community decline. The Rural Policy Team are based in the HCA's offices in Exeter.

Rural areas are some of the least affordable places to live in the country. In 2008, the government’s Living Working Countryside review of the rural economy and affordable housing found that while people working in rural areas tend to earn significantly less than those working in urban areas, rural homes are more expensive than urban homes. The popularity of rural areas and migration from urban areas add to the pressures on rural housing affordability.

Our work:

Living Working Countryside sets out a vision for “flourishing, vibrant communities that will be genuinely sustainable”. We share this vision and are working with our partners to develop programmes and investments that will secure the future of our villages and market towns.

Our overall aim is to increase the country’s capacity to deliver affordable rural housing and to release surplus public sector land for the creation of affordable rural homes. We carry out research in partnership with central government to build our collective knowledge of issues facing rural communities.

As part of our commitment to rural areas, we have established a Rural Housing Advisory Group as a sub-group of the main HCA Board.  The advisory group which is chaired by a member of the HCA Board, ensures that rural issues remain central to our work.  We have also developed a network of rural champions across the HCA.

See the Protected Areas HCA Explanatory Note for information about legislation related to Protected Areas.

Regional Champions

The HCA has established a network of Rural Champions around the country. The Rural Champions are responsible for championing rural issues in their regions. The champions are as follows:

Contact details

Matthew Dodd

Rural and Communities Manager

Matthew.Dodd@hca.gsx.gov.uk