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Affordable Rural Housing

The problem

There is a shortage of affordable housing in rural areas, which impacts on the opportunities and choices for all rural people. Without a range of suitable properties within a village it is difficult to encourage sustainable communities and maintain a vibrant, living countryside. Surrey house prices are high, which means that local families and single people can find themselves forced to move away in order to find homes of their own, changing the social characteristics of the village.

Developing affordable housing is one of the crucial issues that influences the economic and social strength of rural communities, and is a major contributor to long-term community sustainability.

‘Affordable rural housing’ is housing that:
· is built with a subsidy by a Housing Association and made available for rent or shared ownership
· priority in allocations is given to households with a local connection to a village
· remains affordable for local people in perpetuity
How Surrey Community Action can help:

Surrey Community Action employs a Rural Housing Enabler, Mona Johansson, to advise and support village communities that want affordable housing.

If a Parish Council thinks that lack of affordable housing may be an issue in its village, it should contact the Rural Housing Enabler. The job of the Rural Housing Enabler is to help take rural communities through the process of developing a new affordable housing scheme. In particular, the Rural Housing Enabler, acting as an independent advisor throughout the process, can help the parish council to:
· understand the jargon, policies and procedures that surround affordable housing;
· assess the need for affordable housing within the village and find potential sites for a scheme, and
· keep in touch with all the other parties involved throughout the process, including the district/borough council and the housing association selected to build and manage the houses.

Click here to download a copy of Surrey Community Action's Affordable Rural Housing Leaflet.

Building Communities -
Highlighting the achievements of Rural Housing Enablers in the South East Region

The Countryside Agency produced a booklet outlining the work of Rural Housing Enablers in the South East Region. A "pdf" copy of the booklet can be opened and downloaded by clicking here. If you don't have access to broadband please note that the file is 5mb in size and may take some time to open.

Or if you would like more information, please contact Mona Johansson, Rural Housing Enabler, either by telephoning 01483 459 292 ext 226, or by email monaj@surreyca.org.uk.