Having launched the new rural housing service in November last year, work to build a pipeline of homes for people needing rural housing in their communities is now well underway. A rural housing team has been established with two part-time housing enablers in post:

Fiona Brown – Fiona has an extensive background in housing having worked in Housing Associations and Local Authorities enabling the delivery of affordable housing. She is currently also the communities lead for Collaborative Housing supporting the development of community -led housing in Oxfordshire and is an accredited community-led housing advisor with the Institute of Housing.

Kay Sentence – Kay has also worked for Collaborative Housing, supporting early-stage community-led housing groups, as well as working as a community development worker for CFO. She has had a career in supporting communities through a range of initiatives and served as a Parish Councillor and on the Tenant scrutiny panel of a local Housing Association.

Fiona and Kay can talk through the housing issues in your own community and, if appropriate, organise a housing needs survey. If a need is established, they can support you with identifying a suitable site and finding a housing association partner to deliver the homes.

We are currently in conversation with six communities about progressing affordable rural housing and two housing needs surveys are currently out for completion.

Funding for the rural housing project is available until March 2025 and there is a limited budget for carrying out surveys free of charge – please do get in touch if you would like to discuss how you can find out more about how to meet the affordable housing needs of your community.