This Rural Housing Week we’re campaigning for more affordable homes
With just three days left until the General Election a family run construction firm is calling on the next government to prioritise affordable homes in rural areas.
Sam and Matt Winsley are more than qualified to talk about the future of affordable housing in rural UK locations. Since 2018 the pair have been running Winsley White – a building contractors and development organisation – where they have experienced firsthand the benefits affordable homes can inject to such communities and what better time to discuss their importance than during Rural Housing Week.
To mark the event, Winsely White have joined forces with Stonewater, a leading social housing provider to call for a long-term commitment to rural housing and a planning system that facilitates the delivery of new homes.
‘The positive effects of affordable rural housing are vast, but most important are the impact on customers’ lives. Living in the village where a customer grew up or works is a real benefit, and having personally grown up in a rural village, it would have been the only way I would have been able to stay there,’ Sam Winsley said.
‘But the delivery of affordable homes has definitely become more challenging. The main barriers to rural house building at the moment would be the planning process, as well as local objection to affordable homes. However, with buy-in from all political parties and a strong commitment from housing providers like Stonewater to build rurally, the hurdles can be overcome.’
An example of how more homes can benefit rural communities includes a development based in the village of Holt, Wiltshire. Delivered in partnership with Stonewater, ten new properties are set to be completed to Passivhaus standard, meaning they will be highly energy efficient – another issues that is currently plaguing the housing sector.
Solar panels are also due to be fitted alongside Wondrwall heating and water systems, which use smart technology to monitor and understand customer energy use to help reduce bills. These properties will add to the almost 8,000 Stonewater homes in villages and rural areas across England – 20% of its total number of homes. Among them are 50 for affordable rent, shared ownership and rent-to-buy which are spread across Loxwood, Chichester and Somerset.
Jonathan Layzell, Stonewater’s chief growth and development officer, said: ‘Stories like this keep us motivated to build as many rural homes as we can. We see the benefits and need to ensure we articulate the positive impact that both building and managing homes well in a rural community can have.
‘As Sam has experienced, the homes we build are enormously positive for the people living there, but more widely for the communities, villages and local economies too.
‘To maximise opportunities to build homes and ease the housing crisis, we need long-term commitment to rural housing, along with dedicated funding. We also need to ensure the planning system facilitates the delivery of new homes rather than acting as a blocker.’
In response to this, Sam added: ‘There’s often a perception that rural homes won’t be built to a high specification, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Homes are being built to a really high quality, with environmentally focussed features that people want and expect.’
Rural Housing Week is an annual initiative run by the National Housing Federation (NHF) and was established to highlight the various social and economic benefits more rural housing can bring – the latest NHF research shows building just ten affordable homes in a rural area generates £1.4m for the economy and supports an average of 26 jobs.
Image: Stonewater
