A leading housing association has pledged to build around 560 homes in rural areas across the South West over the next two years.
LiveWest has outlined its plans to invest in rural economies as the housing sector celebrates Rural Housing Week, a national campaign designed to shine a spotlight on the vital importance of housing associations for rural communities.
Over the past two years, LiveWest has demonstrated its commitment by building 499 rural homes across the South West.
The largest housing provider in the region has invested close to £39m during the last financial year having built 228 homes in rural areas. The total is made up of 73 homes in Cornwall, 109 in Devon, 39 in Somerset, and seven in the West of England.
In the next two years, LiveWest is planning to develop 138 homes in Cornwall, 198 in Devon, 193 in Somerset and 30 in the West of England. It means 30% of LiveWest’s development programme is made up of homes in rural areas.
Gareth Jones, Development Director for LiveWest, said: “Rural Housing Week is an ideal opportunity to highlight how rural housing developments offer a lifeline to local people and underlines how vital housing is for the survival of rural communities and services.
“At LiveWest, we are committed to strengthening and supporting these communities by creating access to excellent affordable housing.
“We work in a broad range of rural communities to deliver homes that people can afford to live in. We are developing a number of sites in rural communities that will provide affordable homes both to rent and buy.
“Running parallel with our drive to support the provision of rural homes is our focus on energy efficiency, ensuring that all our new homes are well built and insulated helping to deliver cost savings for our customers.
“With more than 550 rural homes planned for the next two years, we remain committed to providing great homes and helping to sustain vibrant rural communities.”
In Devon, a scheme of 39 affordable homes was recently completed in Ashburton thanks to a partnership between LiveWest, Dartmoor National Park Authority, Teignbridge District Council, Homes England and local developer Coyde Construction.
Elsewhere in the county 40 affordable homes were developed in the village of South Brent.
With spiralling private rental prices making it less affordable to securing a rural home, Christina Shaw feared she might have to leave the village she had lived in for the last 10 years. But when an affordable rented property became available, she jumped at the chance to stay local.
Christina said: “I love the fact that we can stay living in the village we have been in for 10 years. We are so happy with the house, it is beautifully constructed, and it gives us ideal space and comfort.
“Lots of people don’t want to move away from the area they have lived in for a big chunk of their lives. So, to provide housing that is affordable and suits the needs of local people is brilliant.”
In Cornwall, an area of chronic housing need, a development of 28 affordable homes was completed at Blackwater.
The development is now fully occupied with 17 homes set aside for affordable rent and 11 for shared ownership.
The scheme has a local connection criterion to the parish of St Agnes, which means many of the homes are owned or rented by people already living within that area.
In Somerset, a partnership between LiveWest and EG Carter, and supported by Lympsham Parish Council and Sedgemoor District Council, resulted in the completion of 20 homes in the village of Lympsham.
The development — a mix of two-, three- and four-bedroom properties — includes two shared ownership and six social rented properties.
The focus was to meet the demand for housing in the area, providing more homes for people with a local connection and the opportunity to rent or buy in a location that has not had new housing for several years.
Peter Hieron lived in a caravan in Lympsham for the last 14 years before securing one of the affordable homes.
Peter said: “I lived on a family run caravan site but the owner passed away so the place got sold on because the new owners wanted to put planning permission in on it.
“I was really lucky to get this place as I was bidding on homes for a long time.
“When I found out I had got it, I was round there almost every night waiting for it to be built because I was that excited to move in.
“For the first month I moved in I was a bit lost because I wasn’t used to the size of the rooms, moving from a static caravan to this was a big change so I was speechless.
“It’s really lovely here and it’s quiet, I get along with the residents. I was really lucky to get this place. If it wasn’t for LiveWest I wouldn’t be standing here now — I would probably be homeless.”
