Do you know what Affordable Housing means in 2017?

With so much in the news these days about the need for more housing development, many Berkshire Parish and Town Councillors and residents want to know what can be done locally about the problem.  Attendees at CCB's training session last night at the Calcot Community Centre, were looking for answers to what has become a very complex question.

Arlene Kersley, the Rural Housing Enabler for Berkshire, presented on the historical meanings of affordable housing, the Berkshire context and current definitions of affordable housing in legislation. She also explained tenures and allocations and the different ways that affordable housing is developed and funded.

Many people are interested particularly in how affordable homes can be built to provide for local people in their communities.  There are now a number of different ways that this can happen:

• Many Berkshire residents have benefited from a homes developed on Rural Exception Sites (small developments on the fringe of rural settlements for people with a local connection to the village). Sadly due to a number of reasons these have all but stopped coming forward.
• There are now a number of different Community Led Housing initiatives;: Community Land Trusts, Co-housing, Co-operatives and Self-Build that can all hel provide affordable homes to local people.

At last nights informative session delegates were treated to detailed information on all aspects of Affordable Housing.

Following the training Participants were asked for their feedback:

"Very clear and concise explanation of a complex topic.  Excellent presenter - very engaging", wrote one attendee with many similar comments.

CCB with support of the West Berkshire Adult and Community Learning offer a variety of free training for community volunteers, activists and residents.  Keep an eye out for training that might be of interest to you!