At Cambridgeshire ACRE, Rural Housing Week 2025 was more than a campaign. It was a celebration of what can be achieved when rural communities are empowered to shape their future.

Through a series of case studies, blog posts and a practical event in Fen Drayton, we shared stories, insights and challenges from the front line of delivering affordable homes in rural Cambridgeshire.

 

Telling the local story

Over the course of the week, we published a set of new case studies and blogs on our website, including:

• New homes at West Farm Close, Over – showing how a strong local partnership helped meet a pressing need
• Rural homes at Little Downham – reflecting on lessons learned from a longer journey to completion
• The Social and Affordable Homes Programme – highlighting a pipeline of future schemes supported through partnership working
• National Reports, Local Reality – offering commentary on the national housing agenda and what it means for our villages

These stories all made one thing clear. Rural housing is not just about bricks and mortar. It is about people, identity and future-proofing communities. Whether it is young families trying to stay near loved ones or older residents downsizing but staying local, the need for well-designed, genuinely affordable homes is pressing.

 

Event highlight: Affordable Homes, Thriving Villages

The centrepiece of our week was a fully booked event for parish councils, ‘Affordable Homes, Thriving Villages’, run in partnership with bpha.

Held on a gloriously hot July day in Fen Drayton, the event brought together 15 parish councillors and clerks to explore how they can play an active role in enabling affordable housing locally.

Speakers from Cambridgeshire ACRE, South Cambridgeshire District Council, Fen Drayton Parish Council and bpha covered everything from identifying housing need and finding suitable land to understanding the rural exception site process and how homes are protected through local connection criteria and restrictions on Right to Acquire.

The session closed with a guided walk to Teal Close, a recently completed rural exception site. There, attendees saw first-hand the quality of the development and how it had been sensitively integrated into the village. Conversations continued over lunch, with attendees remarking on the value of seeing a live example and connecting with others facing similar challenges.

 

What we heard

Across the week, common themes emerged in conversations, blogs and presentations:

• The power of parish councils to lead and shape local housing solutions when they have the right support
• The importance of protection for ensuring affordable homes stay affordable and local through legal agreements
• The ongoing risks posed by Right to Buy and Right to Acquire, especially for council-led schemes
• The value of partnerships, bringing together housing associations, councils and independent facilitators like Cambridgeshire ACRE
• The need for accurate, trusted information to counter myths and build confidence in the process

 

“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.”
— Hayley Neal, Chief Executive, Cambridgeshire ACRE

 

What’s next?

Rural Housing Week may be over, but our work continues. We are actively working with parish councils across the county to explore potential schemes and help communities take the first step.

If your parish is interested in understanding its local housing need or wants to explore the rural exception site model, please get in touch with our Rural Housing Enablers, Gary Roffey and Russell Moore.

Together, we can help ensure our villages remain thriving, inclusive places for generations to come.