Rural Housing Enabled
This post covers some of the opportunities detailed in the full post. Many rural areas have substantial unmet need for affordable housing. The Church of England as a whole owns a lot of land in and around rural settlements. Is this an opportunity waiting to happen?
The short answer is ‘yes’! The slightly longer answer is that it is not always straightforward, but there are some real opportunities as well as organisations and people ready to work together. Perhaps the most important messages for congregations in rural areas are:
The invitation is there to start looking - and praying - around your local community for opportunities to meet housing need.
There are real benefits to a positive response if a Church is approached about land use
The ‘Coming Home’ report was a call for the Church to get involved in meeting housing need, and this invitation is for every worshipping community. However, it is important not to rush into a project on Church land for two reasons. Firstly, because that may not be the best approach for the local community. Secondly, if a project on Church land is the right thing to do, working to establish the need and grow community support will in the long run be essential. That can be done at pace, but the importance of that approach should not be underestimated. With that community engagement, using Church land can absolutely be the right thing to do, and there are good reasons why rural Churches can benefit from either initiating work or responding positively if approached.
The Church at the heart of community need
There is nothing new about rural congregations working to meet community needs. However, the opportunity to make a difference through housing may not be at the front of people’s minds. Yet in every rural area there will be needs such as local young people looking for a home, or elderly people with a family home they find difficult to maintain or move around in. We may be looking to support refugees, or get alongside someone who has experienced homelessness. Each area will be different, but most will have unmet needs.
Churches may well have land in the right places - which is of course enormously useful - but it is congregations seeking to bless their communities that is the heart of our endeavours. Getting involved in meeting housing need is a way to make use of the gifts of those within the Church, and also a way to expand the reach and relevance of the Church within the community.
Housing development of different kinds may be more readily associated with conflict rather than harmony, which is why it’s important to develop a vision for housing alongside the local community.
