Why do we need rural affordable housing?

The main arguments for and against affordable housing in rural areas:

Against: The village will be swamped with undesirables from outside the area.
Response: Local people who belong to the village and contribute to it can afford to stay there.

Against: The visual character of the village will disappear under a large number of poorly built social housing.
Response: The character of the village will continue and improve as a small number of well-built and compatible houses of various sizes are added to it.

Against: The area does not need affordable housing.
Response: Recent Borough-wide housing needs surveys have shown that all rural areas in Cheshire are in need of affordable housing. Localised housing needs surveys can also be carried out.

Against: Local services will collapse under the strain of coping with so many new residents.
Response: Local services can continue and even improve because of the existence of an available workforce remaining in the community.

Against: The new homes will cause a traffic blackspot.
Response: The local highways department plays a major part in the approval process of all housing proposals.

Against: Affordable housing can't work - what happens when the house is sold on?
Response: Affordability is placed in perpetuity as part of a binding contract for all present and future owners of a property.

What happens if a village doesn't have affordable housing?

It might be that nothing will happen and that village life can continue as it always has done. However that might not be the case - let me give you an example:

John is a young farm worker working at nearby farms. His wife Jane is a careworker at a local residential home. They are both from the village, living with John's parents because they can't afford to buy a house in the village. Jane becomes pregnant and the couple are forced to move from the village to the town several miles away, to live in rented accommodation. John changes his job because of the cost of travelling to the farms and Jane moves to a local care home in the town. The farms and the care home struggle to replace them. Their parents are not at hand to babysit and will find it increasingly difficult to travel to see their grandchild as time goes on. As their parents grow older John and Jane will not have the time to travel to the village to care for their parents and may have to rely on social services. John was a reserve firefighter in the neighbouring village; the fire service announces that it may have to close due to lack of eligible young people to crew the local service. Jane used to run the village brownie group; there is no-one to replace her.

Other young people from the village find themselves in a similar position to John and Jane. The village child minder no longer has any children to look after and loses a valuable source of income. The village school comes under threat of closure, due to low numbers and staff shortages. The local village store, already struggling due to lack of local customers, announces that the paper delivery service will have to cease because there are no paper boys and girls. The local pub considers shortening its opening hours due to lack of available young people to work as bar staff ...

And so it goes on.

Although this paints a bleak picture it is not typical of what is happening to a lot of rural communities.

But - and this is important - it can be dealt with.

If you like living in your village and benefit from all that it provides then please don't let one of the most vital elements in the village - young people - drain away.