The case for Affordable Rural Housing: People, Policy, and Place

This Stonewater research report, tackling England’s rural housing crisis, was launched to coincide with Rural Housing Week 2025 and marks a pivotal moment for rural communities facing deepening housing pressures due to a chronic shortage of affordable homes.

Commissioned by Longleigh Foundation in partnership with Stonewater, Fusion21 Foundation, and the University of Liverpool, the research offers practical solutions that address identified barriers to rural delivery. It points out that despite government's targets to build 1.5 million homes, rural areas remain largely excluded from strategic planning and investment. As a result, homelessness is rising, local economies are weakening and young people and key workers are being pushed out of the communities they grew up in.

Drawing on 21 expert interviews with housing providers, local planning authorities, community groups and policy organisations, including the Housing LIN, the report identifies five systemic barriers to rural housing delivery – land acquisition, planning constraints, funding gaps, easing pressure on the NHS, community resistance and institutional fragmentation – and proposes a comprehensive plan to overcome them.

If you found this of interest, check out the APPG for Housing and Care for Older People Inquiry report on rural housing for an ageing population.