Community Perspectives on Localness and ‘Priority’ Housing Policies in Rural England

Policy actors tasked with delivering against rural housing needs face a key conceptual conundrum familiar to researchers: how to define need and how to link that concept to the idea of localness. Community perspectives on this issue reveal that ‘official’ priorities are often not considered to reflect the true nature of local need. There is considerable appetite for setting ‘community priority’ and for assuming direct responsibility for housing delivery. Discussions with community groups in different parts of rural England are used to expose these concerns, which accord with the UK government's localism agenda, a component of which is the empowerment of parish councils to deliver additional homes for ‘local need’, above planned allocations. However, although community perspectives may become vital in driving future policy outcomes, there are associated risks. These perspectives may belong to a dominant minority, with a tendency to draw narrow definitions of localness and local interest as a means of closing the door to unwanted development.