Scheme building affordable homes for local people

Carpenters Yard is made up of 10 affordable homes in a rural location

A scheme which has delivered 10 affordable homes in a rural location is being described as a blueprint for the future.

Carpenters Yard, in Shepherdswell, between Dover and Canterbury, has been built after consultation with a local community land trust.

It was delivered by the Rural and Community Housing Enabling Service (Race) - a body set up in 2023.

It works with groups such as parish councils to identify exactly where homes are needed, and find ways of providing them to local people.

After carrying out local surveys, Race will try to find suitable sites for housing developments.

In the case of Carpenters Yard, the homes were built on land bought from the Church Commissioners.

It features a mixture of apartments and two and three-bedroom houses.

They will be rented out through a housing association at lower than market rents and, with no right to buy, will remain as affordable rental accommodation.

They will only ever be rented to people who can demonstrate a strong connection to Sheperdswell.

The scheme is being hailed as the way forward for affordable rural housing

Race will host an event in Sheperdswell Village Hall on 10 July, at which it hopes to convince other community groups, local authorities and parish councils to adopt its model.

Tessa O’Sullivan from Race said: “Race is all about bringing a rural community together, to understand what their housing needs are and to give them a voice when it comes to finding solutions that are going to work."