Rural Housing Enabler - Community Impact Bucks

Overview

Could you bring excellent project management and community engagement skills to help rural communities identify housing need and increase the pipeline of rural affordable homes in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes?

We are thrilled to be recruiting for a Rural Housing Enabler at Community Impact Bucks. This Rural Housing Enabler role supports the delivery of rural affordable housing across Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes by working with communities, parish councils, and housing partners.

• Contract: Permanent
• Hours: Part-time; 25 hours per week
• Salary: £34,000 pro rata (actual £24,285)
• Hybrid working pattern – 1 day per week at Community Impact Bucks’ Office (Weston Turville, Aylesbury) with the rest working from home and at potential rural housing sites. In addition, this role requires attendance at local community events across the county, occasionally in the evenings or at weekends, so you must be able to travel throughout Buckinghamshire.
• Closing date: 9am on Tuesday 26^th May 2026
• Interviews: We are committed to finding the right fit for this role. We will be reviewing applications and shortlisting candidates to interview as they are received. We will close this position once the right person is found.

About us

Community Impact Bucks is a charity that uses its expertise to deliver, support and empower positive change for local charities, communities and people, helping to build strong and vibrant communities in Buckinghamshire.

Our mission is to enable and develop strong and vibrant communities in Buckinghamshire.

We support charities, communities and volunteers to be the best they can be by:

• Building capacity empowering sustainable not-for-profit organisations and communities through practical support and development.

• Enabling volunteering through Volunteer Bucks.

• Developing partnerships and collaborations to influence change.

• Delivering community-based services and projects to help people stay connected and independent.

• Providing leadership and advocacy strengthening our sector’s voice and influence.

At the heart of Buckinghamshire’s communities, Community Impact Bucks is a locally rooted charity committed to helping communities and charities thrive. Our impact is made possible by a passionate and committed team who believe in the power of local action and understand the places and people they serve.

We expect all staff to deliver activity within Buckinghamshire’s communities and to bring local knowledge, relationships and contextual understanding to ensure our support is relevant, inclusive and community‑led.

Website: Community Impact Bucks

About the role

The Rural Housing Enabler leads our Rural Housing project working with rural communities in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes to identify housing needs and bring forward opportunities for small-scale housing developments that meet local need, increasing the pipeline number of rural affordable homes. This is part of the Rural Housing Enabler Action with Communities in Rural England programme funded by DEFRA.

Key responsibilities

• Support, advise and steer communities, and town and parish councillors from their initial interest in providing affordable housing, through scheme inception and pre-development phases to completion, with the aim of increasing the speed of schemes through the pre-development phase.
• Assist communities to identify the nature and extent of affordable local housing need in their community including, where appropriate, through a Housing Needs Survey.
• Assist communities to identify a deliverable site for development of affordable housing and/or secure affordable housing as part of market led schemes.
• Build collaborative partnerships with key partners to provide a clear pathway to a successful planning application and delivery. Partners may include, but are not limited to, local communities, parish councils, housing association staff, officers from the Local Authorities (including in their role as providers of affordable housing) and local developers.
• Provide project management including regular reporting on project progress against workplan and housing pipeline.

Key requirements

• Experience of building and sustaining relationships within and across organisations and sectors, and working collaboratively.
• A highly capable communicator in person and in writing. Able to engage the public, local politicians, and officials on their own terms, whilst remaining independent and trusted.
• Experience delivering research, strategic assessment & planning, data analysis, and evaluation reports.
• Excellent organisational, planning and management skills, with strong attention to detail.
• Agile and proactive in approach to challenges and opportunities.
• Able to work under pressure, multi-task and meet strict deadlines.
• Competent user of databases and the Microsoft suite of software.
• Either Full British driving licence and access to private means of transport or ability to demonstrate how you will meet this requirement.

Available to work evenings and weekends when necessary (in accordance with our Time Off In Lieu Policy).

About you

You will bring passion and energy to drive change in rural communities, and in doing so, have the ability to work closely with local people, build strong relationships, and support communities to achieve their goals.

As an excellent communicator, you will enjoy building partnerships and working with people from a variety of backgrounds, with a strong awareness of diversity and inclusion, and the ability to be diplomatic and take the initiative when needed.

You will benefit from having an interest in housing and must be able to work with Parish Councils, Housing Associations and Local Housing & Planning Authorities.

Your knowledge and experience might involve:

• Asset-based community development
• Developing and delivering activities in a community setting
• Lived experience of the challenges Buckinghamshire’s rural communities face
• Experience of working in the field of housing delivery and working with local authority planning and housing teams.

However, training and support will be provided so you don’t need to be an expert in everything.

Joining Community Impact Bucks, you will be part of a supportive staff team within the charity, and you will be part of a national network of Rural Housing Enablers offering peer support and shared learning.

Other information

For further details about the role, please visit: https://communityimpactbucks.org.uk/vacancies/community-impact-bucks/rural-housing-enabler

For more information contact [email protected]

Please submit your CV and a cover letter explaining how your skills, experience and interests meet the Job Description and Person Specification by 9am on Tuesday 26^th May 2026 to [email protected]