Modular terraced housing for older residents of rural areas
Innovate UK
Rural Design Centre Limited
Issues around availability of suitable housing in rural areas are well documented and have become more pressing in recent times. Purchase of homes as second homes and holiday lets has reduced availability and increased prices, whilst the recent trend for relocation from urban areas to desirable rural communities, driven by increased homeworking, has also had an effect. Even before COVID-19, the number of homeless families was increasing rapidly in rural England (CPRE data) and demand outstrips supply.     Longer term, ageing demographics of rural areas has increased the volume of housing required for a given population and changed the ideal layout of properties. Older people without families do not necessarily need or desire large properties, which can be more expensive to heat and maintain and may not fit individual access requirements. However, the build rate of bungalows, for example, has been far behind demand. The impact of planning rules and commercial pressures means that bungalow construction has been falling, with an 80% decrease from 2000 to 2020\.    Given the challenges around land values, planning and community acceptance of new developments, we need new solutions to this problem. Our premise is that by creating low cost, energy-efficient but desirable single story housing at sufficient density, we can create capacity for older people to move into appropriate accommodation whilst freeing up homes for younger families.    The initial thinking is to build on learning from traditional low rise miner's homes and more recent sheltered housing developments but utilise the latest concepts in modular construction to deliver on energy efficiency and cost targets. We envisage a modular courtyard-style development of one and two bedroom terraced homes. Our concept is that the community feel provided by a courtyard development of 10-20 properties will be attractive to the target group whilst still allowing a high enough density of housing to overcome land availability issues and allow use of smaller brownfield sites.    The lead organisation is the Rural Design Centre. The Centre was set up as a not-for-profit company with support from key rural organisations like the NFU, CLA, local authorities and LEPs, community networks and business groups to take a new human-centred, design-led approach to rural issues. We use design thinking methodologies to bring together communities, businesses, public authorities and researchers to co-design solutions to rural challenges. We have a team of design associates and innovation managers, with experience of product, service and process design.
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