The aim of this particular research is to explore current methods for providing new housing in rural areas and analyse alternative housing methods in terms of quality, sustainability and
affordability. What kind of a new housing model can be established to create a more affordable and sustainable future for housing in rural and accessible rural Scotland? Is this model capable
of providing a feasible alternative solution to current housing market options?
There are growing issues regarding population growth and migration in Scotland. On top of the issues of rising population in Scotland, rural land comprises 94% of the landmass, yet only
houses 20% of the population as opposed to urban areas that house 80% (Rural Scotland Key Facts 2012). The gap is projected to increase due to the trend of people moving from remote rural areas to accessible rural areas closer to towns.
This is related to the affordability of housing. While urban property prices have increased 91% during the years of 2001-2011, rural property prices have faced a 101% increase (Bank of Scotland, 2011). Furthermore, the average deposit as a percentage of property cost has increased from 10% in 2007 to 21% in 2011. Higher deposit requirements and low housing equity mean that signi ficant number of would be home buyers and movers remain unable to enter the market as demonstrated by the 56.5% decrease in fi rst time buyers between 2006 and 2011 (Bank of Scotland, 2011).
In 2011 new house completions in Scotland were at their lowest since 1982 (The Scottish housing system: selected economic and social trends, 2011). This is problematic as The TAYplan Strategic Development Plan identifi es the need to provide 520,000 new households by the year 2035. The current demand for housing is met by mass-market developers by providing a limited range of standard typologies which don’t respond to the locality but rather the required density to meet the pro t margin (Beaman, 2014). This has resulted in a lack of character within the developments and lack of innovation as well as community ownership.
The aim of this thesis is to establish the benchmark for current mainstream methods of housing provision, against which alternative methods of procurement can be tested. Among the alternative housing methods, community-led housing are explored in detail which includes the German originated Baugruppe model, cohousing and existing community initiated affordable housing projects. The research defi nes the potential of these procurement methods to offer a better consideration for community integration, energy supply, affordability, spatial quality, and relationship to context in promoting a sustainable model for rural living.
The testing fi eld for this research is in Cottown located in Perth and Kinross – an area that is projected to have a big increase in younger and elderly population in the next ten years and has
lower wages and higher property prices than elsewhere in Scotland (Perth & Kinross Affordable Housing Guide, 2012). Findings from the community led housing analysis provide a possibility
to test a new affordable community led housing model in the Cottown context. The model aims to provide an alternative but still feasible housing development that not only integrates with the
existing community but offers a higher quality sustainable living for its residents.
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