Entec Bulletin
Affordable Rural Housing: an Opportunity for Business
Talk of the current affordable housing crisis, more often than not, focuses on the problem as an urban phenomenon. However, there is in fact a severe shortage of affordable housing in rural locations. The causes include rising property prices, increasing second home ownership and increased desire to commute to urban areas from a home in the countryside. The result is changing the make-up of rural towns and villages, with local people being forced to look elsewhere for homes, and services suffering as a consequence.
The government has taken steps to tackle the problem but attention has been turned on businesses and landowners to wake up to the benefits they can derive from helping to provide affordable housing in rural areas.
As part of this drive, a new guide published by Business in the Community and researched by Entec called 'Affordable Rural Housing: An Opportunity For Business', was launched by HRH The Prince of Wales, President of Business in the Community, at St James's Palace recently.
The guide, which was produced by Business in the Community in collaboration with the Countryside Agency and the Housing Corporation, aims to inspire the business community to participate more in their local rural communities and to gain from the direct benefits that arise from involvement. These benefits include new business opportunities, new networks and contacts, an enhanced local reputation and the opportunity to stimulate staff by providing them with different responsibilities and challenges.
It focuses on five key areas of involvement with the potential for business and community benefit:
Rural Director of Business in the Community Graham Russell commented: "Encouraging businesses to recognise the importance of affordable housing to their commercial success is a key aspect of our rural action programme. We are delighted with the way the report's case studies demonstrate the benefits and hope that it will encourage more businesses to get involved."
The Prince of Wales and the Duke of Westminster along with the Housing Corporation and the Countryside Agency are to fund two rural directors through Business in the Community to implement the recommendations of the report and encourage businesses and landowners to bring more rural affordable housing forward.
For more information or a copy of the report go to
the Business in the Community website (www.bitc.org.uk).
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