Action Hampshire campaigning for affordable housing for the New Forest
They hope to meet with councillors and communities later in the month
Last updated 29th Aug 2025
A Hampshire group are campaigning for rural affordable housing in the New Forest.
The proposed housing would be for those who grew up in the area, work nearby, or have family connections.
They say the housing crisis is a particular problem in Hampshire's rural communities.
Kevin Sawers, Community Projects Specialist at Action Hampshire, said: "Housing is unaffordable for many people across large parts of England.
"It's particularly a problem in parts of South-East England and many parts of Hampshire.
"What that means is that people can't buy or rent their own home in the area where they've grown up, so they have to move away further from families, relatives and support, and away from the community they know.
"That's not good for them, and it's also not good for rural communities.
"It means younger people and people with families are moving away, so the demographic of many rural communities in Hampshire and elsewhere is significantly older than average.
"That means a lot of services like schools, suffer from reducing numbers and they may well end up being closed.
"It also reduces the number of people available to work in local businesses and services.
"So having a certain proportion of homes in a rural area being affordable to people on lower and average incomes is really important for the life of those communities."
They hope their 'Roots and Roofs' meeting on the 18th September at The Community Hub in Brockenhurst will bring parish councillors, landowners and the community together.
They aim to discuss how to bring more rural affordable housing to the New Forest and surrounding areas.
Action Hampshire has worked on affordable home projects for more than 20 years and has brought 500 affordable homes into communities, with the most recent being in Curdridge.
Mr Sawers, added: "Housing in many parts of the New Forest is particularly unaffordable.
"It's a popular area for second homes, which pushes the price of housing, buying and renting up.
"So we know that the challenges for people on lower incomes and average incomes are quite possibly worse than average.
"There's a real need for affordable housing developments specifically for local people in many parts of the forest, and if we can get some more schemes underway, get people interested in looking at this further, then we'll be delighted."