On a gloriously hot July day, Cambridgeshire ACRE and bpha welcomed over a dozen parish councillors and clerks to Fen Drayton for a special Rural Housing Week event focused on practical solutions for rural communities.

Affordable Homes, Thriving Villages brought to life the process behind delivering rural exception site developments and showed how affordable homes can be sensitively designed, rooted in local need and protected for future generations.

Attendees heard first-hand from parish councillors, housing association representatives and South Cambridgeshire District Council officers about how to take the first steps toward a community-led scheme.
Topics explored during the day included:

• How local housing needs are identified through surveys and shared with parish councils
• How land is identified and secured for rural exception sites
• The differences between rural exception sites and affordable housing delivered on other sites
• The planning process, including community engagement
• How local connection criteria are applied
• How properties are protected from Right to Buy or Right to Acquire
• The importance of early and sustained parish council involvement

Following a packed morning of presentations and panel discussions, the group visited the new Teal Close development, a rural exception site in Fen Drayton recently completed by bpha. This walkabout was a real highlight, giving attendees a chance to see the high quality of the homes and understand how the scheme fits naturally into the village setting.

 

 

Hayley Neal, Chief Executive of Cambridgeshire ACRE said:

“Rural Housing Week gave us the perfect opportunity to show what affordable housing can really look like in practice. Parish councils are often at the heart of these conversations, so it was brilliant to bring people together, answer their questions and walk them through a real-life scheme. We’re proud to work in partnership with bpha and other housing providers to help villages across Cambridgeshire thrive.”

 

Jeff Astle, Director of Development and Sales at bpha said:

“It was a pleasure to welcome parish councils to Teal Close and share the story of how this scheme came to life. Rural exception sites like this demonstrate what can be achieved when communities, housing associations and local authorities work together. We hope this visit gave attendees the confidence to start their own housing conversations back home.”

 

To discuss how your community might benefit from a small development of affordable homes, please get in touch.