Making a case for the countryside: Connexus launches Rural Voice

In July, rural housing association Connexus published Rural Voice, a companion piece to its 2025–2030 Corporate Plan, homes you can build a life in. Launched during Rural Housing Week, the document shines a spotlight on the often-overlooked issues facing rural communities.

Rural Voice explores a number of unique challenges facing rural communities, including long-standing inequality in funding and housing supply, and the so-called “rurality premium”, where households in the countryside pay more for housing, goods and services than those in urban areas.

To show the scale and complexity of the problem, Rural Voice includes research sourced from the housing sector and beyond. This includes startling findings from Virgin Media O2, revealing that over a third of rural UK residents are likely to consider moving to a town or city in the next 12 months due to poor connectivity, limited job opportunities or inadequate services.

As well as highlighting the challenges, Rural Voice calls for action - setting out a series of commitments from Connexus to help redress the balance, along with clear asks for partners and peers across the housing and public sectors.

Introducing Rural Voice, Kate Smith, Connexus Chief Executive, said:

“Rural Voice sets out how Connexus is responding to challenges facing our rural communities and calls for greater support from those we work alongside, including policymakers at both local and national levels, as well as peers in the housing and public sectors.

“By working together with a joined-up approach, we can create lasting change in our rural communities, creating thriving towns and villages where people can put down roots, and build a life in their home.”

For those wanting to read more, Rural Voice is available now from the Connexus website:
https://connexus-group.co.uk/aboutcontact/corporate/rural-voice