Let’s assume you need to find a home to rent at a reasonable (ie not private) rate, as an increasing number of people do. Such homes are generally referred to as social housing. These may be let at social rent or “affordable” rent: the latter is around eighty per cent of the market rate.
As the name implies, these exist because of the state’s social obligation to help people find roofs over their heads and also because these create a wider social benefit: for all kinds of reasons, communities benefit from having a mix of housing types.
So – who builds homes?
- Local authorities. These used to build loads (over 300,000 a year in the ’70s) but now build hardly any. We can largely dismiss this as a future source in most areas unless things dramatically change.
- Private developers. These now provide the most, though not as many as Whitehall wants. As many as possible are for private sale. They are compelled by local policies to build some for “affordable” or social-rent (see above). However, they’re running businesses and these are less profitable so they try to reduce their obligation. Even if they are built, they’ll be in the places where that firm obtained permission and decided to build, not necessarily where or of the kind that the district needs.
- Housing associations. These and other registered providers build and manage homes for social rent but are constrained by many of the same priorities as are private companies. Construction prices have increased making larger and larger developments necessary to get economies of scale. There is also a regulatory burden placed on housing associations who are obliged to consider requests to buy or acquire from residents. Some also dispose to the private market properties which they argue have become too expensive to maintain. Some (but not all) have expanded far beyond the districts they were first established to serve, so breaking the original local connection.
These, then, are the three conventional sources of social housing stock, although the machinery to provide these is far from perfect (and, by many good opinions, getting less so). There are others – and they have two specific advantages: the properties are built in direct response to local needs; and they can’t be sold off. These are:
- Land trusts and rural exception sites. These are two ways by which local communities can acquire land and permission which would not normally be available to build homes that meet local needs.
- Almshouses. Remember them? The oldest form of social housing, dating back to medieval times. They’re still with us, and experiencing a small revival. There’s one nearly completed project in Lambourn that’s an exemplar for others to follow.
The bottom line here is that, if you were relying on the current system to provide what’s needed then it probably won’t. Local communities can. however, do much to help themselves.
A particularly rural problem
We’re particularly talking about rural areas. As this map from Connectiong Communities in Berkshire (CCB) shows, in almost every rural parish that it’s studied in Berkshire and Oxfordshire has seen a fall in rural social housing between 2011 and 2021. Research continues on this (see next section), and also on seeing if there’s been an increase in the nearby urban areas. Any small gains have not kept pace with housing need
However, even if these more than offset the rural loss, these are hardly like-for-like replacements. Not everybody wants to move to a large estate on the edge of a town.
West Berkshire Council’s adoption this year of its contentious local plan is likely to provide an extreme example of this unwelcome drift. The 2,500-home development in NE Thatcham could provide as many as 1,000 affordable or social-rent homes, if and when these are ever built. This boosts to the figures for the district as a whole but is likely still further to weaken any impetus to build homes to support rural communities .
By some estimates, if the trend continues, half of the rural housing stock in West Berkshire could have been permanently lost by 2040. The villages risk a slow death as a result.
Finding the facts
Local communities can do a lot to change this. First of all, it’s necessary to find the facts.
CCB has been gathering data about this rural depletion but recognises that it needs ears and eyes on the ground to help. If you know of social-rent properties which have are re being or might be being sold off, or ones that are being left empty, CCB wants to know. CCB has created a brief questionnaire to help monitor this. Please use this if you have anything to share.
Land trusts
Connecting Communities in Berkshire (CCB) and other organisations can also help with these. (CCB and Community First Oxfordshire are both part of the ACRE network of rural community councils that exist in every county in England. CFO and CCB work with Community Impact Buckinghamshire (also an ACRE member) to provide support for rural affordable housing across the Thames Valley area.)
Here’s a brief explanations of what land trusts are from Soha, a housing association based in Didcot which has properties in Oxfordshire and West Berkshire:
“Community-led housing is about local people finding solutions to local housing need. In very simple terms, a community identifies the need for housing and the land to put it on. It forms a Community Land Trust (CLT), a democratic organisation owned by the community. The trust purchasing the land effectively removes it from the market as it must always be held for the community to use.
“The CLT designs and builds the homes and acts as long- term steward of the housing, so that it always remains affordable. CLTs don’t build to sell on – it’s all about keeping the interest in the land in the community for ever.
“CLTs that Soha is involved with often require different partnership arrangements: this may be expertise and guidance to progress the project, acting as the developer or accessing grants through Homes England or Council subsidy. In return, Soha adds to the stock of homes it manages for rent or shared ownership.”
“To take a first step in exploring if a CLT is right for the community and to commission a housing needs survey, take advice from Community First Oxfordshire on 01865 883 488 or email info@communityfirstoxon.org.”
Rural exception sites
Rural exception sites are another way forward. The National Housing Federation decsribes these as follows:
“…small sites located on the edge of existing rural settlements. They allow land to be provided below market value for residential development – provided it is used to build affordable housing for local people.
“They are allocated outside of the local authority’s development plan – so homes delivered via Rural Exception Sites represent additional affordable housing for the local community.
“Any kind of affordable housing can be delivered, including affordable rent, intermediate housing (including first homes), or social rent, provided there is adequate evidence of local need.”
To get either of these initiatives set up, the best way is to contact your local parish council. They would be well advised to contact Community First Oxfordshire or Connecting Communities in Berkshire. Both organisations can assist with creating the necessary work that will enable the community’s identified housing needs to beome enshrined in a document that neither planners nor developers can ignore. This will generally conducting a formal housing needs survey and combining this with the more impersonal evidence of census information.
These processes must be done correctly if they’re to carry any weight: and these are the organisations to help do it. Similar ones exist in other areas.
Almshouses
Almshouse trusts are, essentially, a more ancient version of community land trusts. For many years, many have been purely reactive, managing the property they have but doing little to expand them. As a reult of the housing emergency, many are now be bestirring themselves and finding opportunities to add to their stock. The above-mentioned one in Lambourn is a superb example.
If you’re a resident or a parish councillor elsewhere, you may want to find out what local almshouse trusts exist in your area and seeing what they’re doing to help meet the current needs. They too will be an important part of the solution.
In conclusion…
The situation’s not completely bleak. However, if rural communities want to get the housing they need, it’s no longer possible to pretend with any confidence that the system will provide it. However, the above suggests some ways and some organisations which are fighting to accomplish exactly these aims.
Such community schemes, however, require community buy-in and engagement. Helped by the bodies mentioned here, everyone can become an enabler to help fix a rural-housing time bomb. If your community needs homes , these are some of the ways you can help make this happen and help keep your village as a vibrant place to live and work.
Brian Quinn
Brian@pennypost.org.uk
