MP Tim Farron was invited to mark Rural Housing Week alongside South Lakes Housing (SLH) at their rural development at Boon Town in Burton-in-Kendal.

The development, which will deliver 28 new homes, will consist of a mix of social rent and shared ownership homes to help ensure rural communities remain sustainable for local people.

Rural Housing Week is an annual campaign run by the National Housing Federation to showcase the fantastic work that housing associations do in rural communities, challenges rural communities face and how affordable homes can help.

Rural housing associations are the glue that holds communities together, delivering not only homes, but also services that are crucial to supporting their residents.

The tailored development of rural affordable homes is essential for prosperous communities and has the potential to make an enormous contribution to the future of rural lives across the country and contribute to levelling up.

John Burt, chair of the development committee at South Lakes Housing, said: "We feel strongly about supporting rural communities, building and managing quality affordable rural homes that mean people with a connection to the area can live in the communities where they grew up.

"We need to level up our rural communities, and there is no better way to do this than by building affordable homes.

"Affordable rural housing has long been a part of SLH’s DNA, and we continue to look for opportunities to ease the rural housing crisis & improve the sustainability of rural communities."

After visiting the scheme, Tim Farron MP said: "It was great to visit Boon Town to see the fantastic new affordable and sustainable homes that are being built.

"A lack of affordable housing is a real barrier to local families and people being able to stay and work in our local towns and villages.

"I’m very grateful for the important work that South Lakes Housing continue to do to tackle this huge issue and give local people a home they can call their own.”

The homes will all have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of A, as they have improved fabric insulation combined with low carbon technology (Solar Panels and Battery Storage).

This will reduce the carbon footprint of the homes and reduce the running costs for tenants and homeowners making them affordable to heat.

The project has been funded by SLH and Homes England and SLH are working in partnership to deliver these new homes with Elliott Associates, SLDC, Tyson Construction, ID Partnerships, Wardhadaway and R G Parkins.

The total cost of the scheme, which includes grant funding of £1.17m from Homes England is £4m.

The first phase of homes are due to be ready in November 2022 and will be advertised in late summer and early autumn.