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20/09/2012: Rural Housing Week to be celebrated in North Yorkshire

A programme which has seen over 120 affordable homes built in rural North Yorkshire in the last 12 months will be celebrated across the county next month.

Rural Housing Week will bring together local authorities, parish councils, community groups and housing providers for five days of events from October 1.

The North Yorkshire Strategic Housing Partnership is hosting this special week to highlight an initiative which has seen 126 new affordable homes created in the county's rural areas in the last 12 months. Another 100 homes are scheduled for completion this year.

The week - which will be addressed by leading planners and housing experts, including the Chartered Institute of Housing, National Housing Federation, Communities and Local Government and the University of York - will also see workshops, visits to completed schemes and official openings. Housing organisations and providers, government agencies, parish councils, landowners, councillors and communities across the county are being invited to look at schemes, share ideas and help raise awareness of issued faced by rural communities.

"We want to highlight North Yorkshire as an exemplar deliverer of rural affordable homes," said Councillor Richard Foster, Chair of the Local Government North Yorkshire and York Housing Board.

"This week will celebrate the great work that is being done across the county as well as broach important issues being faced on a daily basis.

"By listening to ideas from other agencies, communities and organisations we can become more innovative and help more rural communities meet their affordable housing needs."

The week starts with a conference in Skipton headed by Lord Best; sees the opening of the Richmond YMCA and a development of homes in Swainby on the site of an old garage; takes in visits to affordable home developments in Ryedale, Harrogate, Selby, Bainbridge and Osmotherley; and hosts workshops exploring a host of issues including rural homes for older people and myths around affordable housing.

Craven Events

Craven will host the week's launch event on Monday October 1. - 'Making it Happen' is a day conference for housing and planning professionals from a wide range of organisations and will be opened by Lord Richard Best OBE, President of the Local Government Association and Past Chief Executive of the National Federation of Housing Associations. Speakers include Rob Warm from the National Housing Federation, Mark Bevan from the Centre for Housing Policy at the University of York, Sarah Davies from the Chartered Institute of Housing and Mathew Dodd from the Homes and Communities Agency.

In partnership with the Yorkshire Dales National Park, Craven District Council will host an event for landowners in the National Park on October 2. Presenters will include Peter Stockton, Head of Sustainable Development for the National Park and Fraser Neasham, Development Manager for Yorkshire Housing.

To book a place contact Sarah Hall at shall@cravendc.gov.uk

more information about the week can be found on the North Yorkshire Strategic Housing Partnership website.

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