Rural Week - 'The cheapest home available in the village is £450k'...

At the moment my life revolves around Zoopla and Rightmove. Then back to Zoopla again. I change the price bracket, hoping that something may just pop up that needs a bit of work….we could negotiate the price down? Negative. Each morning I reach for my phone, click open the app, adjust the price bracket and….yes it’s become an obsession!

Back in February this obsession had not begun, instead my day consisted of filling in reams of paperwork, calculating our monthly spend, printing evidence of our savings accounts and, most importantly, proving our links to the local area. I was getting excited, we were applying for a low cost home ownership property in Cowbridge. However, I soon found out that managing expectation was key. I knew many many people would be applying for this single property. So 6 weeks later we found out… negative.

My boyfriend works on the family farm but earns very little. On the other hand, I earn a decent wage but despite working for a housing association, promoting affordable homes in the Vale of Glamorgan, we just can’t seem to purchase an affordable home ourselves anywhere near the farm.

We have been together for 2 years and privately rent a home…but it's 5 miles away from the farm. Depending on the time of year, my boyfriend moves in with his parents during lambing, harvest or when the horses are foaling. Not a prospect that fills me with excitement. I would like to add that we also have a decent deposit, but we still can’t find an affordable home within 5 miles of the farm. The cheapest home available in the nearest village is £450,000. Totally out of our reach. This makes our house search the most frustrating activity of the day.

So what is the solution? There isn’t one at the moment… a farm can’t be moved. I continue to hope that low cost affordable homes will be built near the farm. Likelihood? Negative. There was recent talk of a new housing development in the neighbouring village, but looks like these will be executive homes. The frustration continues.


Mared Elenid Williams @maredelenid
Marketing Coordinator, Newydd Housing Association 

Only the lonely...

On a wild windy day, only 50m from the crashing waves of Cardigan Bay, Sarah Rochira (Older People’s Commissioner) and her colleague Kelly came to visit Mrs Jones in Aberystwyth, whose terraced house nestles snugly against the castle walls.

We have been helping Mrs Jones to reduce her eye-watering £318 per month Direct Debit from Scottish Power. Mrs Jones had reached the end of her tether in trying to contact Scottish Power since August, when her payments went up to this incredible figure. We hit the same impenetrable brick wall, and only found a way through by using the Welsh language service. Having given the helpful Scottish Power officer the updated meter readings, we have reduced her Direct Debit to a still painful £192 per month. We are working with the client to tackle her inefficient heating scheme.

The Commissioner’s conversation with Mrs Jones, however, uncovered a wider and far more personal issue, common to far too many older people, even in close knit urban areas. Loneliness and isolation was her real heartache. 'I've always been such a sociable person, I loved going out... I've only been out of the house once in the past year, and that was only up the road to St Michael's Church for a funeral.'

The house is accessed via numerous steep, uneven, and varying height steps and, whilst a handrail has been fitted, Mrs Jones still sees the climb back up as an Everest too daunting to face.

Why doesn't she find a more suitable property? A flat or a sheltered scheme?

Herein lies the problem. This is not Mrs Jones's house, it is her home! Her home, which was bought nearly 50 years ago when she was newly married. 'We put in an offer on it and were worried sick all night, but it was the best thing we ever did.... We’ve raised our children and grandchildren here and my grandson still lives with me. I do not want to leave my home.'

The third sector, including us at Care & Repair, must continue to work together to help older people in all aspects that affect their ability to remain independent. That means far more than repairs and adaptations alone, it's all about the 'Care'.

Lesson relearned!


Dafydd Pugh-Jones
Rheolwr Gofal a Thrwsio / Care & Repair Manager

Rural Housing Week, 20-27 May 2013

What a great idea. If rural housing issues had been considered important enough a decade or more ago to warrant the same impact as cheese week, or even rabbit week, then it would certainly be of a much higher priority today.

For Rabbit, read Rural Housing!

Tell a Friend or Neighbour about Rabbit Rural Housing Awareness Week

If you are reading this page then well done - you are already aware of Rabbit Rural Housing Awareness Week and have probably got your pet rabbits community booked in for their FREE health check with your local, participating vet Rural Housing Enabler. However, we need to spread the word to other rabbit owners communities about the FREE health checks that vets RHEs are offering for rabbits communities, councillors, and housing decision makers during the week and to ascertain how sustainable they are and how forming partnerships on the ground can reap dividends to all.

You may be aware of a friend or someone else in your neighbourhood who owns a pet rabbit is in housing need due to lack of suitable affordable housing, numerous exclusive second homes and the cost of renting or buying even though they are working. If so, we'd really appreciate you telling them about Rabbit Rural Housing Awareness Week especially with the cost of living, travelling and rural services becoming increasingly dearer and harder to reach. Why not print this letter and send it to your rabbit owning friend or neighbour in housing need, so that even more rabbits communities can benefit from these FREE rabbit community health checks.

On a sober note, Carl Sargeant AM, Minister for Housing and Regeneration said in his blog, Building a better Wales: ‘housing can provide a catalyst for the Welsh economy'. Let us see if Rural Housing Week in Wales can be the catalyst for raising awareness of housing and the rural economy, and how we can tackle the future sustainability of communities together.

Arfon Hughes
Gwynedd Rural Housing Enabler

(PS apologies to Rabbit Awareness Week)