Affordable Housing

H.O.P.E (Housing Our PEople) Project - Providing rural affordable homes

Wealden District Council is working in partnership with the rural Parish Councils in the District, Action in Rural Sussex and the Countryside Agency (now known as the Commission for Rural Communities and Natural England) to tackle the problem of local people being priced out of the housing market. The partners have been working together since October 2003 on a unique project called H.O.P.E.

This project is one of the first in the country to use the proposed changes in Planning Policy Guidance Note 3 (PPG3), to allocate sites for affordable housing in Local Plans. This project formed part of Wealden's submission to become a Beacon Council. In addition, this project has received national recognition in the recent Affordable Rural Housing Commission's report.