Affordable rural housing: a little Church land can make a big impact

Princess Anne and new tenants at the opening of Glebe Meadow in Roxwell, Chelmsford diocese, in September 2020. Credit: Matt Pereira Photography

A new article by the Rural Community Council of Essex highlights how the Church may have the keys to unlock the provision of affordable rural housing. There are many rural communities where local young people are being priced out of housing in the villages where they live or work. And most dioceses have small parcels of glebe land that could make a huge difference to the long term viability of some villages.

Across the countryside, many rural communities are under quiet but growing pressure. There are already encouraging examples where dioceses have worked alongside local councils and housing providers to deliver genuinely affordable rural homes on glebe land - such as in Essex.

In the article, RCCE’s Senior Rural Housing Enabler Laura Atkinson explains how making land available for affordable housing doesn’t have to be at the expense of trustees’ duty to get best value. It’s possible for PCCs and DBFs to balance fiduciary duty with social impact - such as in Roxwell, Essex, where Laura helped Chelmsford DBF and English Rural Housing Association to collaborate and deliver 7 affordable rural homes for local people. Download the article here, or else read it along with the rest of RCCE’s quarterly Oyster magazine here.