Research
Rural Housing Project research and report (August 2010)
ACRE has produced a briefing on the outcomes of the above project, which was conducted by the Homes and Communities Agency and funded by Defra. The final report accumulates evidence from around the country on local authority attitudes to delivery of rural affordable housing, the role of Rural Housing Enablers and highlights the new Rural Housing Information Centre available at http://www.ruralaffordablehousing.org.uk/home.html
The role of Community led Planning in generating community led housing (August 2010)
This ACREbriefing paper summarises recent research undertaken by the Homes & Communities Agency, on the role of Community Led Planning in raising awareness and generating a community's interest in the need for local rural affordable housing. One of the options for a community to take relevant action in future is through the Right to Build policy, which heightens the relevance of this research to emerging government policy.
RCAN Involvement in RDPE
This report summarises the results of research undertaken by ACRE into the involvement of the Rural Community Action Network (RCAN) in the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) at a local level.
The impetus for the research was that a number of RCAN members expressed concerns about local RDPE programme implementation and delivery. Some RCAN members have invested considerable resources in developing projects and partnerships with RDPE delivery bodies which were subsequently deemed ineligible. Concerns were also expressed about programme management and delivery within the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs). It was clear that members of RCAN had widely differing experiences when it comes to the implementation of RDPE in their region. ACRE wanted to gather a picture of RCAN members involvement in RDPE to highlight any issues and problems and also to share good practice and successes.
The research was carried out in August/September 2008 and involved sending a questionnaire to the Chief Executive officers of the 38 Rural Community Action Network members in England. A detailed description of the methodology is provided as Appendix 1. Full responses are collated as Appendix 2.
ACRE research on mainstream funding
"The potential for mainstreaming rural investment" read more
Rural Communities Buildings research
Defra contracted Rural Partnerships to research funding for rural community buildings in partnership with rural stakeholders including 15 Rural Community Action Network members. The research focuses on issues around funding applications, looking at barriers to funding and success factors. It also examined the tangible and intangible benefits the facilities bring to local communities. The report was published in January 2007 and is available here
Enterprise 4 Inclusion (E4I)
Enterprise 4 Inclusion (E4I) supported social enterprises and voluntary organisations planning or developing enterprise-based activities that benefit socially excluded people in rural areas of England. The programme was sponsored by Defra and used action research to test the best way of supporting rural social enterprises. This one-year programme ended in June 2006. E4I was directed by a consortium consisting of ACRE, Plunkett Foundation, Co-operatives UK, Enterprising Communities, Development Trust Association and Prime UK.
E4I supported individual projects with cash grants of up to £12,000 and the services of a 'support provider'. The programme operated across the South West, East Midlands, North West and North East. ACRE was responsible for maintaining contact with projects in the South West and East Midlands.
Click here for Projects & People: Case examples of project beneficiaries.
Click here for a copy of the Executive summary. |
