Having a place to call home is probably top on the list of priorities for everyone across the UK, however in rural England, low wages, along with high house prices and rents mean that there is a lack of affordable housing options available to all.  We’re featuring a story this week in the bulletin about the huge increase on numbers of people on the social housing register. (Read more at this link!) 

On Tuesday 19th September we will be focusing on affordable housing in our National Rural Conference with three expert speakers joining us.

The session will be opened by Helen Morgan MP, one of the Vice Chairs of our All Party Parliamentary Group on Rural Services.

First up will be the Principle Affordable Housing Officer, Alex Rehaag from South Hams District Council, along with the Chair of the Local Community Land Trust, Christine Phillipson talking about their award winning project which aims to deliver a project with 46% affordable homes.

Next, we will hear from the National Housing Federation, with Patrick Merton-Jones, the rural housing lead at the NHF on the strategic perspective on supporting the delivery of rural housing. 

Finally, the session will feature Helen Fielding, the Director of Development and Investment at Broadacres Housing Association.  Helen leads the delivery of the Growth Strategy, delivering new homes and Broadacres’ investment in existing homes to enhance their energy efficiency, in pursuit of the Sustainability Strategy.

The session will finish with a wider debate amongst delegates of some of the key challenges facing rural communities in accessing affordable housing, along with potential solutions.

The conference this year is supported by NICRE, and sponsored by BT, Gemserv, Northern Powergrid and SWS Broadband.