We work with Surrey’s rural communities to get affordable homes built for local people. We carry out the research into local housing need and ensure the opinions of local communities are heard and represented.
On average rural homes cost 30% more than those in urban areas and rents are increasingly unaffordable, so many young people are either having to relocate to find an affordable home or remain living with their parents. Many of our rural villages now have an unbalanced social and economic mix with mainly older or wealthy householders.
To help address the lack of affordable home to buy and rent in Surrey, Surrey Community Action along with Waverley Borough Council, Guildford Borough Council, Mole Valley District Council, Tandridge District Council, Mount Green Housing Association and English Rural Housing Association formed the Surrey Rural Housing Group to work with local communities, to increase the supply of rural affordable housing, enabling local people on modest incomes to remain or return to the village.
Since then, we have worked with 50 Parish Councils to facilitate the building of 170 homes in rural areas in Surrey.
As part of this process we:
- Conduct housing needs surveys
- Work with Parish Councils to explore how best to meet identified need
- Liaise with all relevant bodies to identify possible sites
- Facilitate community consultations
- Act as an honest broker between all parties, ensuring the voice of the community is heard.
Contact Us
If you would like to discuss with us how we might work together to deliver local, affordable homes in your community please contact Nicola Davidson or David Cowan, Rural Housing Enablers for Surrey. Email [email protected] or [email protected] Tel. 01483 447121.
