The advantages of place-based housing approaches when developing in rural communities

The need for rural affordable housing and the consequences of its absence are well understood. However, it’s no secret that developing in rural communities has its challenges: lack of economies of scales, planning delays, availability of contractors working in rural areas, skills shortages and suitable development sites to name just a few.

As part of Karbon’s 2021-2026 strategic partnership with Homes England, we committed to delivering over 220 new homes in rural communities. It’s been far from a walk in the park but as of 2025-year end, we’d met that target and have learnt some valuable lessons along the way.

Our most significant lesson of all is the importance of a place-based approach to developing new homes to ensure better short and long-term outcomes. Another lesson is to recognise the needs within local communities and respond to them by designing and maintaining inclusive schemes that bring sustainable benefits.

East Cowton is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire and, as is common with rural communities, the limited housing investment over the years has resulted in a decline of new people moving to the area and issues to do with the younger generation being priced out and having to leave.

This decline in population is having a negative impact on the local economy, the shops and local pub etc., and has led to uncertainty for the future of the local primary school.

Alongside financial viability of course, early and constructive engagement with the local community has been key to our success so far.

By working closely with East Cowton Parish Council, we’ve been able to build a clear understanding of the unique needs of that community and ensure our development brings sustainable benefits, not only to the people whose future homes we’re building, but to the community as a whole. For example, through this engagement we heard the community’s concerns that the development would exacerbate long-term issues of sewage flooding in the village, something local residents had sought to improve for years.

We not only listened to this concern, but we acted, incorporating a new sewage mains solution into our design to alleviate pressure on the village pumping station. By acting on this concern, we’ve proven that we mean it when we say we want to work together and this has helped build strong relationships.

Engagement also played a key role in finalising the tenure breakdown of the 68 homes on site, to ensure we’re catering for professional couples (people the village told us they need to attract) as well as new and returning families.

Built by lead contractor Adderstone Living, 22 of these homes will be available for social and affordable rent and reserved in the first instance for people with a connection to the village and surrounding parishes. The remaining 46 homes will be available for affordable home ownership providing local first-time buyers with an opportunity to get onto the property ladder via shared ownership and Rent to Buy.

As we’ve progressed with the development, we’ve continued to work closely with the parish council to identify how we could further benefit the community through social value (a further demonstration of our commitment to place shaping). Together we’ve been able to donate £4,500 of new laptops and IT equipment to pupils at East Cowton Primary School, providing eLearning resources for early years pupils through to Key Stage 3.

Adderstone also donated £500 for a new laptop for the East Cowton village hall, which lies at the heart of the community and is a popular meeting place for local people who use it for a variety of activities, clubs and meetings.

We recently hosted the MP for Richmond and Northallerton, Rishi Sunak at the development to showcase progress so far. Rishi said, "It’s fantastic to see this high quality development taking shape here in East Cowton. Projects like this are vital for ensuring that people can continue to live, work, and raise their families in the villages they love. It was great to meet the team making it happen and see firsthand how these new homes will make a real difference to the future of this area."