Community and Rural Housing: New service for Cumbria
5th December 2023
ACT has secured funding from DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) for a service to boost affordable homes across Cumbria. The Rural Housing Enabler Service is being developed throughout England by ACRE network members (Action with Communities in Rural England) to ensure that small, rural communities don't continue to miss out on the development of the affordable homes they need.
The Rural Housing Enabler Service will help ‘unlock’ small development sites, some of which may not be on the local list of allocated sites for housing development, or maybe 'windfall' sites. The aim is to help communities of up to 3000 people see affordable housing development at appropriate scale, coming to fruition. In most cases, the need will be for fewer than 10 homes.
We know that these small developments of affordable houses can make the difference between a resident village population that can support local services and one where the shop and the school and pub become unsustainable over time. We also know that economies of scale make it far more likely for developments to be pursued on the outskirts of our larger towns. This continues to make it harder for people on low or average wages to stay in our smaller rural settlements.
High levels of holiday accommodation and second home ownership in some areas have exacerbated problems caused by the low supply of affordable homes. Affordability is crucial in communities with high levels of low wage employees, particularly among our young people.
ACT will oversee delivery of this important new service in partnership with our local planning authorities in Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness, the Lake District National Park and the Yorkshire Dales National Park. We will also be working closely with local Registered Providers of Social Housing and other professionals who can help move site opportunities forward.
The current funding offer is for 18 months and will allow us to lay the ground for a longer term proposal when the opportunity arises.
Do please get in touch if you would like to talk to us about housing needs in your community; franrichardson@cumbriaaction.org.uk