RURAL SPECIALIST SHARES ITS EXPERTISE
19/10/2007
Midlands Rural Housing provides management services to four rural housing associations who together manage more than 1,000 homes across Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, the Peak District and Warwickshire.
“We are now also offering a range of services to other housing associations and private developers looking to get involved with rural housing provision,” explains Richard Mugglestone, project delivery manager at Midlands Rural which is based in Coalville.
“We have considerable expertise in rural housing, assessing a community’s needs, liaising with residents, parish councils, local authorities, developers and other partners and have built up an enviable reputation as a specialist in this field.
“We are now increasingly being approached by other organisations who need our help in this area and need to draw on our expertise. Housing associations, private developers and local authorities are able to benefit from our specialism by engaging Midlands Rural in all elements of rural housing work. Our knowledge of development fieldwork, needs analysis, site finding and housing management is available to organisations who would like to take advantage of our vast experience.
“Newspaper headlines seem to be continually talking about the difficulties faced by first-time buyers and those on moderate incomes as they attempt to get on the housing ladder. This can be an even bigger problem in rural communities and many people are often forced out of an area where they have grown up due to high house prices and a lack of affordable rental properties.”
As more people become aware of the need to provide affordable homes in rural communities, Midlands Rural is offering a tailor-made package to organisations seeking to get involved.
In many cases, it works with the parish council and local authority to carry out a housing needs survey with every member of the rural community being asked their views on whether affordable homes are needed.
Having carried out the survey, it then analyses the results and provides a full report outlining the results and any identified housing needs.
Midlands Rural can then become involved in the search for a suitable piece of land for development and liaison with development partners.