English Rural is a specialist non-profit rural housing association, established in 1991. We only build and manage homes in village locations, principally across the south of England. All the homes we build are community-led and designed to benefit local people. We are also one of the leading national advocates on affordable rural housing issues, with HRH The Princess Royal as our Patron.

Generally speaking, we develop our homes on ‘rural exception sites’. This enables us to ensure they are affordable and secured for local people – forever.  Our residents and the local community are at the heart of what we do.

Affordable doesn’t mean poor quality. Our homes are designed and built to high standards, usually using local design features and ensuring that their environmental impact is minimal.  We build beautiful homes that villages can be proud of and our homes consistently win awards for design and construction.

To find out more about us and to see our past and current developments please visit: englishrural.org.uk

Please refer to our FAQs to learn how this site was selected.

The proposed site is to the south of Woburn village and will utilise brownfield land at Speedwell Farm which is currently being used by the Bedford Estate forestry team.  Access to the proposed homes will utilise the existing access along side a new access from London Road.   The overall site area is approximately  0.9 ha and mainly comprises of redundant agricultural buildings.  

Click on the top right symbol to enlarge the map. Zoom in and out using your mouse or the +/- buttons. Hold a mouse button and drag the cursor to explore the area. 

Working with The Bedford Estate we are proposing to submit a revised planning application for 22 new homes at Speedwell Farm, Woburn.  English Rural will acquire and manage six affordable rent and two shared ownership homes for local people. The affordable scheme would comprise the following homes:

• 1x one bedroom flat M4(3) flat

• 1 x two bedroom flat

• 3 x two bedroom houses 

• 1x two bedroom house (for shared ownership)

• 1x three bedroom house

• 1x three bedroom house (for shared ownership)

The Estate will retain 14 of the new homes, which will be for estate workers along with a number of private market rent homes which help to cross-subsidise the the scheme.  You can learn more about cross subsidy in our frequently asked questions.

• 8 x two bedroom houses 

• 6 x three bedroom house

Visit the 'Visuals' page to view ideas of what the scheme might look like.

The project seeks to secure a fresh detailed planning permission for the residential lead re-development of the existing farmstead.  The existing approved scheme , approved in 2019 no longer realises the ambitions of The Bedford Estates and a new approach is sought to deliver new homes which:

• Retain and adopt a more sensitive conversion and re-construction of the agricultural farmstead

• Apply a more sympathetic character to the new homes using a palette of materials which reflect the local area

• Harness the sites historic evolution to re-create a collection of buildings and structures which replace the modern large scale structures of the approved scheme with more modest buildings which suit the setting

• Create a scheme which sits comfortably with the Listed farmhouse and the wider estate character 

• Deliver modern, energy efficient homes for local people 

Watch a video on the benefits that affordable rural homes bring to communities. Hear from English Rural residents who explain how they, their families and the local community have benefitted from being able to live in an affordable rural home. 

Click on the video to play.