This week is Rural Housing Week and the Nationwide Foundation is pleased to have funded a project which has successfully raised awareness of and enthusiasm for community-led housing across rural North and East Yorkshire. This has led to the initiation of 12 pilot housing projects to create homes for people in need.
Where there had previously been no community-led housing developments in the area, the project engaged with communities and stakeholders to help them understand the benefits of this type of housing and led to the identification of 12 rural communities which wanted to pursue community-led housing developments.
Work on one of the pilots, North Yorkshire’s first community-led housing scheme, started on site last month in Richmondshire. Villagers in Hudswell – already famous for its award-winning community pub – are coming together to build three houses for local people who cannot afford to buy a home there.
The project was funded with a grant from the Nationwide Foundation, along with support from other local partners.
Gary Hartin, Programme Manager from the Nationwide Foundation, said: “We know that although individual community-led housing schemes are often small, the energy and commitment of local people and organisations can create a big impact for the individuals and communities in which they work. This has been clearly demonstrated by the success in north and east Yorkshire, where this project has unleashed and nurtured the potential for 12 schemes to progress to the stage of creating affordable homes, which is a cause for much celebration.”