Rural Housing Week: 30th June to 6th July 2014

An offer from Arlene Kersley, CCB's Rural Housing Enabler

I’m not going to proselytise here; by now our communities must know that poor access to affordable housing in Berkshire’s rural villages is real concern for young people . I do urge you to take the time to read the latest report from the National Housing Federation: Rural Housing – Countryside in crisis. See the link below: 
http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/pub.housing.org.uk/Rural_housing_-_Countryside_in_crisis.pdf

My one complaint about the report is that the maps have failed to identify any of Berkshire as rural! Did you know that in Berkshire there are 85 parishes that are identified in statute as Designated Rural Areas for housing purposes? This designation affords special protection to affordable homes in those parishes. 

The CCB Rural Housing Enabler (yours truly) will talk to your parish council, neighbourhood plan group or community group, about how your community is affected by high house prices. The RHE can help your community identify local need for affordable homes and if necessary help you get a small number of homes built just to meet the needs of your community.

Our work is funded from a dedicated Partnership of Local Authorities (RBWM and West Berkshire) and their housing partners. There is no cost to the community to have the RHE come and talk to you, or to have a housing need survey done for your parish.

Call me if you would like more information. Arlene Kersley, Rural Housing Enabler for Berkshire, 0118 961 2000 or email at arlene.kersley@ccberks.org.uk