Rural Affordable Housing

What is Rural Housing?

Rural Housing focuses on meeting local need – helping communities explore options like rural exception sites and community-led housing so people with a local connection can stay near family, work, and support networks.

We work alongside parish councils and partners to scope need, find suitable sites, and support engagement at each step. Our approach is practical, collaborative, and evidence-led.

What we do

We help communities through:

• 📍Rural exception sites – advising on policy, eligibility, and how to bring forward land for local needs.
• 📊Housing needs evidence – supporting surveys, analysing affordability, and presenting findings.
• 🤝Partnership brokering – connecting parish councils, landowners, and housing associations.
• 🧭Project route-mapping – options appraisal, indicative timelines, and next steps.
• 🏘️Community engagement – drop-ins, FAQs, and plain-English materials to build understanding.

Explore topics

• About the programme – who we are and where we work
• Rural exception sites – policy, eligibility, delivery
• For parish councils – surveys, site finding, engagement
• For landowners – routes to bring land forward
• For residents – local connection, affordability, applying
• Case studies – examples and lessons
• Resources & downloads
• FAQs

Get involved