Land price and the viability of delivering affordable homes on 'Rural Exception Sites' in England

Abstract

Registered providers (RPs) of social housing struggle to build genuinely affordable homes in rural England’s private land market. Land allocated for market development commands a high price in amenity areas. Since 1991, RPs have developed homes on unallocated ‘rural exception sites’ (RES) in villages, seeking affordable land on which to build homes for local need. However, landowner expectation of the price achievable for these sites has risen, largely because government has sought to substitute public grants with market mechanisms to achieve project viability. Drawing on research into local practices on RES, this paper explores evolving viability challenges and solutions, concluding with a call to fix land price for affordable housing on rural exception sites