Serving communities
across Bedfordshire and Luton

Many local people can no longer afford homes in rural areas because of low wages, high house prices (largely driven by wealthier newcomers), the sale of social housing under the Right to Buy scheme, and less tied accommodation.  If people have to move away to find housing, families are less able to support each other, for example helping with childcare or support for older relatives. If several generations have to live together in one house, lack of personal space can result in increased stress and relationship difficulties.

Communities without a balanced mix of age ranges and social characteristics are less sustainable. Local services such as schools and shops may find it hard to stay open without enough people using them; rural enterprises may not be able to find workers who can afford to live locally; isolated rural areas with high numbers of empty second homes or commuter residences are more at risk of unobserved opportunist crime, and may be less likely to have the thriving social networks in which neighbours are able to support and look out for each other.

There are two main ways in which new affordable housing is built:

1. Through exception sites, which provide affordable housing in smaller rural parishes, specifically for people with a strong local connection to that parish
2. Through local authority planning regulations that require private developers, to provide between 30 & 50 % of each new site to be allocated to affordable housing.

More information on affordable housing opportunities for Bedfordshire is available at the Key Homes - East website.