Solutions

The Rural Housing Trust, dedicated to the needs of small villages, has pioneered a method of developing affordable homes which requires the participation and support of the local community. It is called the ‘exception site’ approach (see next section).

Our members of staff who work in villages to promote projects are called Fieldworkers.

Fieldworkers

explain the process to parish councils
involve the parish councils
measure housing needs
gain local support
identify suitable sites for development
discuss potential sites with planners

Fieldworkers enjoy the support of an in-house development team experienced in building small-scale schemes on remote, unserviced and technically difficult sites. Colleagues provide funding, legal and planning advice.

The beauty of the exception site approach is that it meets proven housing needs in the places they arise. It is a successful solution because:

the size of development is dictated by needs (average 8-12 homes); and
homes are affordable and for local people only - now and in the future.

The Trust is a sensitive developer. We pay careful attention to design, to environmental issues and to the way a development fits into its surroundings. We are always open about our proposals which we discuss at every stage and we listen to the concerns of local residents.

We work with:

Parish Councils – they play an important and active role in the process, ensuring that housing developments are genuinely local projects.

District Councils – close consultation with housing and planning departments is crucial to a successful scheme.

Landowners (and their agents) - to purchase land. Sometimes, landowners donate land.
If you are a landowner, download this leaflet - Landowner.pdf.

Housing Associations (aka Registered Social Landlords) – they are our customers, buying completed homes to rent or sell to people in housing need. Through them, public subsidy is obtained.

Tenure

Because schemes are developed to meet needs, there is usually a mixture of rented and shared ownership homes. In schemes where public subsidy is required, we work with housing associations, which go on to manage the completed homes.

Where possible, we like to provide shared ownership housing ourselves, without public subsidy. See our fact sheet on shared ownership to find out how the RHT form of shared ownership works.