Rural housing

Photo: Hastoe Housing Association

Over 440 of our members own and manage 728,000 homes in village and market towns across the country. Investment in rural homes and communities is a core part of our members' business.

There is an urgent need to increase the provision of affordable housing in rural settlements. Many villages are at risk of becoming ghettos of the rich and of older people, as young families and those on modest incomes are priced out.

Rural Housing Week 2013

Join in celebrating Rural Housing Week which takes place across England from 10 - 16 June.

Federation Rural Alliance

The National Housing Federation Rural Alliance has been created to help support Federation member housing associations that own and manage homes in rural areas.

The Alliance meets four times per year, and helps provide a single, clear and collective voice for housing associations’ lobbying and influencing on rural housing. Additionally, it enables associations to compare and learn from each others’ work in areas such as design and sustainability. The Alliance meets regularly with representatives from the Homes and Communities Agency and the Rural Communities Policy Unit at Defra.

The Alliance has published a rural housing pledge, Affordable homes for local people, which offers a set of guarantees for rural communities. The Alliance works to promote this pledge to rural local authorities and parish councils.

The Alliance is chaired by Adrian Maunders Chief executive of English Rural Housing Association. For more information on the Alliance, contact Sara Cunningham on 020 7067 1078.

Partners for Rural Housing

We participate in the Government's Rural Housing Advisory Group, which is a subgroup of the main Homes and Communities Agency's board. The Group's aim is to advise the HCA and seek ways to improve the delivery of affordable rural housing. The group meets 4 times a year and is convened by Professor Peter Roberts who sits on the HCA board. More information on RHAG can be found on the HCA website.

We are also members of the Rural Coalition, chaired by Lord Robin Teverson. The coalition comprises 15 members who subscribe to a vision for a living and working countryside.

Save Our Villages campaign

From 2009 until early 2012 we ran the high-profile Save Our Villages campaign, calling on councils to commit to dealing with the shortage of affordable homes in rural areas.

The campaign gained the support of 50 rural councils, as well as hundreds of MPs, councillors, rural campaigners and housing associations.

The popular 'Lost!' campaign poster is still available to download for supporters, as well as a four page campaign newsletter which is suitable for distributing at rural housing meetings and events.

• Download the 'Lost!' campaign poster (PDF, opens in new window)
• Download the village watercolour illustration (right click the mouse, choose 'Save Target As...'. Any published use must credit National Housing Federation.)
• Download the rural housing campaign newsletter (PDF, opens in new window).