A new hub to help communities develop affordable homes across North Yorkshire and East Riding has been launched today (5 March 2018).
The REACH Community Led Housing Hub will help communities develop and manage projects.
Communities often struggle to find housing for local people for reasons such as second home ownership, lower incomes and high house prices which can lead to the loss of local facilities – schools, shops and public transport. They are now coming together to address these problems and the Hub provides information and advice in one place to help groups get started and to manage their projects.
An Advisers Panel will provide groups with access to firms with expertise in community development, architecture, planning, surveying, law and accountancy to help them bring their plans to fruition.
Those interested in signing up to the Advisers Panel are being asked to complete a simple questionnaire that will help communities to decide who to appoint. Advisers will be expected to have some knowledge of working with communities and/or housing projects and be suitably qualified and experienced. Grants are available for them to pay for this support. The information can be accessed at http://www.reachcommunityhousing.co.uk/adviser-panel/
Cllr Richard Foster, Chair of the Yorkshire North, Yorkshire and East Riding Housing Board, said:
This new service will make the delivery of Community Led Housing much simpler by bringing everything together in one place and helping communities get started to bring much needed affordable housing to their local area.
The Hub will also be running a series of information seminars for community groups. More information can be found at http://www.reachcommunityhousing.co.uk/seminars/
The Councils in the area were allocated money last year from the Government’s Community Housing Fund to help communities develop their own plans. The first group to benefit from the fund was the Hudswell Community Charity that recently welcomed tenants to three houses built in the village.
The REACH Community Led Housing Hub can be found at:
www.reachcommunityhousing.co.uk
.
