Leading South West housing provider LiveWest has announced they will be building more than 400 new homes in rural areas in the area over the next two years.
The announcement has been made during Rural Housing Week (1-7 July), which is organised by the National Housing Federation, and highlights the contribution that housing associations, like LiveWest, make towards building more quality, affordable homes.
The week celebrates the work housing associations do in investing in rural communities, enhancing the local economy and helping to keep local services, such as shops and schools viable.
Nathan Cronk, Director of Development at LiveWest, said: “We know how affordable rural homes make a difference to local people who need to stay in the area where they work, have lived or have family connections.
"Often the people living in our homes have jobs in the community that keep vital services going, such as providing support to children and older people, teaching, nursing or running the local shop.
"Over the past two years LiveWest has delivered over 350 new homes in rural locations in the South West and we are stepping up our delivery. We need to challenge the sector to increase the supply of affordable rural housing and continue to contribute positively to ensure a thriving countryside.”
Statistics released by Rural England reveal that homes in rural areas cost 8.3 times the average wage compared with seven times in urban locations.
That's why LiveWest are building a number of affordable rural housing developments across the region in an effort to alleviate this issue.
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LiveWest has been working on a number of new housing schemes in rural areas across the region. For example in Uffculme, Mid-Devon LiveWest is currently working on a scheme made up of 11 homes for affordable rent, 10 for shared ownership and 39 for open market sale supporting many local families otherwise priced out of the area. Residents will move into the new homes from September 2019.
In Cornwall, LiveWest has recently completed an affordable housing scheme in Goldsithney made up of nine homes for affordable rent and nine for shared ownership.
Residents began moving into the £3.9m scheme during March this year. Homes England Funding of £242,000 aided delivery of the scheme that would otherwise have been developed for the open market.
And in South Gloucestershire, LiveWest has recently delivered the first phase of new homes at Pucklechurch. This part of the development is called Cable Close and provides eight flats and 12 houses for affordable rent.
The entire scheme will deliver 58 affordable homes by the end of 2019, with 27 allocated for shared ownership and 31 for affordable rent.
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