As a founding member of the Rural Housing Alliance, we have a long-established and deep commitment to working alongside local communities to provide high-quality, affordable homes in perpetuity. We have a strong preference for working on community-led or rural exception site developments that provide an opportunity to partner with local communities, land owners and parish councils to find the right site, ensure that local people who qualify for housing are given first priority, and to make sure our homes always remain either for rent or shared ownership.
A rural exception site is a small site used for affordable housing in perpetuity where sites would not normally be used for housing. Rural exception sites seek to address the needs of the local community by accommodating households who are either current residents or have an existing family or employment connection.
Where developers offer us affordable housing units as part of a planning obligation, we only partner with small-scale developers in rural areas that have a demonstrable part to play in addressing the rural housing shortage. Wherever possible, we source local contractors and use local businesses in order to support the local economy.
We stand by our commitment to the Rural Housing Alliance pledge to:
- Work closely with the local community and Parish Council to find the right site
- Always give qualifying local people in housing need first priority for every home
- Ensure that affordable homes always remain affordable
- Build sensitively designed, high quality homes to high environmental standards
- Provide good quality and locally sensitive management services to our residents
- Always respond positively to the local community
