This Rural Housing Week, we’re exploring rural housing in Oxfordshire, and the work of our Rural Housing Enablers.
Rural villages are often assumed to be well-off and overlooked in conversations on housing. However we’ve known that there are real pockets of need in rural areas – a recent report by Arc4, Rural Housing Solutions and English Rural shows that rural need for affordable housing is 50% higher than in urban areas.
Locally, Oxfordshire’s Districts are only delivering between 3% and 19% of the homes needed to meet rural affordable housing needs. This has real life impacts on our small rural communities. As people are priced out, there is a loss of community – young families leave, local services close down, and businesses struggle to find staff. With this, local resilience is weakened as an absence of mixed-income households erodes social networks and volunteers.
Read the full report here: “Mind the Gap: How Rural Communities Are Falling Behind on Affordable Homes”
There are ways which local communities can address their local affordable housing need. Our Rural Housing Enablers have been supporting Parish Councils and Communities to develop suitable affordable housing across the county – take a look at this map of our projects, and toggle housing!
Our Rural Housing Enabling Service supports Parishes to address their housing need through the provision of rural exception sites (RES). This useful planning tool allows relevant affordable housing to be built on small sites next to rural settlements. When a site is allocated as a RES, only affordable housing that meets local need can be built there – a requirement that is protected into the future.
Rural Housing Enablers work with Parish Councils to:
– Identify local need for affordable housing
– Support the council to engage with local communities
– Help identify a potential site
– Introduce a local housing association who can deliver a scheme in line with the communities wishes
Meet our Rural Housing Enablers!
Fiona Brown has thirty years of experience managing and delivering affordable housing through Housing Associations and Local Authorities, and is an accredited CLH Advisor through the Institute of Housing:
“My housing career has been built on a belief that an affordable, safe and secure home is fundamental for people to be able to build their lives and contribute to their communities. Housing that is led by the local community is more likely to meet local needs , be truly affordable and be better designed than homes simply imposed by a developer. One of the best parts of my job is seeing communities grow in confidence to tackle their housing issues. My passion for housing comes from an interest in people, places and a Civic pride. “
Kay Sentance has over twenty-five years of experience working with communities and young people, alongside being a Parish Councillor and member of Thame Community Land Trust:
“If the housing is right other aspects such as transport, sustainability, economics, biodiversity and community resilience will follow. Having the community at the core of this decision making is important, as people will be more involved and feel more connected to their communities. People will engage in what is important to them, as they see that they can make a difference.
This is particularly important in Rural areas that, historically, have been seen as too difficult to include in wider decision making. With modern technology we are now able to better understand and include voices that might have been neglected in the past.”
We’re grateful to have such passionate, experienced, and creative members of staff ☺️
Find out more about our housing services here