"There's a question that we at GRCC think needs to be asked during this Rural Housing Week. It is a tricky one, a controversial one, and one with no easy answer. But…. we will ask it anyway as sometimes you have to ask the difficult questions.
Is Gloucestershire in the midst of an affordable housing crisis?
For generations, GRCC has been at the very centre of affordable housing delivery in our rural areas.
There has never been greater difficulty in delivering small sites on the edge of existing villages that meet local housing needs.
The young family, overcrowded and living with parents, the young couple looking to start a life together, the single person just needing a home near work, the community stalwart needing to downsize.
In so many of our parishes, these community members are having to leave their community to get the housing they need.
If they are lucky, they are offered homes on larger developments in different parishes or in more urban areas, affordable houses added on to large numbers of market-led housing, simply because it's easier and more economically viable to build them there.
An older demographic now dominates rural areas yet they need essential care as they get older which is not available to them locally, resulting in bed blocking and delays for all of us accessing the essential health services that we all need in a timely manner.
Rural parishes are losing essential services such as primary schools, pubs and shops. Local businesses reliant on a stable workforce find recruiting challenging, impacting on the economy of Gloucestershire.
The effect is potentially catastrophic for rural Gloucestershire.
Planning authorities and Registered Housing Providers don't do this on purpose. They are faced with increased housing demands, increased retro-fit issues to deal with, black mould issues to correct, costs rising, and the pound they have only stretches so far.
So to get their numbers, to reach their targets , they use the most viable option, the larger sites, and the bigger numbers.
If we are about to face a crisis, it is multifaceted, with a shortage of affordable homes and high housing costs disproportionately impacting rural communities. It's a complex issue with, as we have suggested, significant implications for community viability and social mobility.
This week we will look into the problem and offer our views of what’s needed to address it."
