It's Rural Housing Week 2021!
![wrha rhw 2021 web](/media/4676/wrha-rhw-2021-web.png?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=1158&height=404&rnd=132699674860000000)
This year’s Rural Housing Week theme is Committed to Communities.
Affordable housing is at the heart of thriving rural communities.
And, now, more than ever, rural housing associations need to be committed to their communities and to working together to help them thrive.
Why is this week so important?
The strongest and most sustainable communities are those that have a diverse mix of people.
However, it’s a fact that rural incomes are below average and the ratio of house price to local wage is higher in rural areas. Unfortunately, local families and young adults increasingly cannot afford to buy or rent in their villages and are moving away.
This is not a new problem; only 8% of rural homes are classed as affordable. But, with a recent increase in demand for rural homes, reduced funding and limitations on new home development it will continue to intensify.
The loss of younger people and families who are priced out of the area, combined with an ageing population in rural areas, has a huge impact on those communities. It effects the viability of shops, schools, pubs, businesses, farms and all the local services that make a community what it is.
Providing sensitively designed, small developments of homes that are within the financial reach of local people will allow the communities to remain diverse, enabling people to work close to home, to provide and use local services and keep villages alive.
Rural Housing Week is the perfect time to celebrate how Warwickshire Rural Housing Association is dedicated to providing affordable homes that people love and that keep vital rural services alive.
Our developments are always community led. We work in close partnership with the village residents, the parish council, neighbourhood groups and local authorities to ensure that our genuinely affordable homes meet the needs of each community now and for future generations.
What’s planned this week?
We'll be focusing on our latest development in the village of Bearley. It's a super low-carbon PassivHaus build, with the latest renewable energy heating technologies.
We’re looking forward to sharing the new Parish Councillors’ Guide to Rural Affordable Housing and the Rural Housing Alliance’s refreshed Rural Housing Pledge following their launch on Wednesday.
And throughout the week, we’ll be sharing stories of how we’re supporting our residents and local communities.