MCI uses rural exception policy to unlock village homes

Liverpool-based MCI Developments has obtained planning consent from Wyre Council to build 20 affordable homes in Bowgreave.

The council granted permission for the affordable housing despite being in open countryside. MCI Developments, advised by Mosaic Town Planning in Manchester, argued that the site was suitable for rural exception development – where local people, especially young first-time buyers related to local families have been priced out of their area – and would help to meet a defined need for affordable housing in Bowgreave.

The development will benefit from funding from the Homes & Communities Agency, and Great Places will manage the mix of affordable rent and shared ownership properties.

Leon Armstrong, senior planning consultant at Mosaic Town Planning, said: "National and local planning policies support rural exception development where it can help to meet an identified need. The council was satisfied that its evidence base provided sufficient justification for local affordable housing need to trigger such an exception.

"The committee decided in the face of staunch local opposition that affordability is a growing concern in rural Wyre and should be catered for on appropriate infill sites such as this. By approving this scheme, Wyre Council has helped to ensure that young people who have been previously priced out of their village can now afford to live where they were raised."