Impact of rural housing enablers on

show during MP’s first ministerial visit

Jenny Riddell-Carpenter MP, the new Parliamentary Under-Secretary at Defra, picked out Whitehall Close in the Forest of Dean for her very first ministerial visit.

ACRE Chief Executive Corinne Pluchino was among those on hand to welcome the new minister, and to explain why affordable housing remains one of the biggest challenges being faced by rural communities today.

She said: “Across the country, people young and old are having to leave their home towns and villages due to available properties being too hard to come by or simply unaffordable.

“The rural housing enabler programme, which is managed nationally by ACRE and delivered at a local level by ACRE Network members, aims to turn the tide on the current unfair rural housing market, so that more families can get on the property ladder.”

Each county-based rural housing enabler works to bring together the key players needed to make housing developments happen, such as landowners, property developers and parish councils.

By working collaboratively as a partnership, local housing need can be better understood, which can lead to potential development being identified quicker.

Whitehall Close is a not only shining example of what can be made possible, but also a blueprint for what the RHE programme aims to deliver elsewhere in the country.

Gloucestershire Rural Community Council, whose RHE team helped to make Whitehall Close a reality, hosted the minister’s inaugural visit.

Barbara Piranty, Chief Executive Officer, said: “We were delighted to welcome the minister to Gloucestershire on her first visit since her appointment as Defra Minister for Nature and Rural Communities.

“Our visit to Whitehall Close demonstrated how our partnership working with key stakeholders, including the parish council, housing association and local builders, has delivered much-needed affordable homes for local people in genuine housing need.”

Speaking after the visit, Jenny Riddell-Carpenter said: “It was a privilege to visit the Forest of Dean and see a new rural housing scheme providing genuinely affordable homes for local people.

“Each of the families I spoke to told me how these homes are transformational for them, giving them a home when they were in need and ensuring they could stay local to their community.”

Delivering more affordable rural homes to communities most in need is a key strategic priority for ACRE.

As outlined in the organisation’s five-year strategy, Rural Ambition: Enabling Communities to Thrive, the goal by 2030 is for there to be more homes that are “appropriate, sustainable and affordable so that young families can remain in the areas where they grew up and local businesses are able to recruit and expand.”

The strategy is available to read in full at www.acre.org.uk/rural-ambition-enabling-communities-to-thrive-acres-strategy-for-2025-30.

Further information on the rural housing enabler programme, including other recent success stories, can be found at www.acre.org.uk/rural-housing-enabler-programme.

“It was a privilege to see a new rural housing scheme providing genuinely affordable homes for local people.”

Jenny Riddell-Carpenter MP