A WEEK of events highlighting the need for affordable housing in the Bridport area has been deemed a success by organisers.

Bridport Housing Week concluded on Saturday, October 30 with the Bridport Housing Fair. The event saw a range of community-led and commercial organisations with an affordable housing agenda set up stalls, answer questions and discuss problems and solutions.

Workshops also went ahead throughout the day to underpin Bridport Town Council’s Energy Efficiency Campaign, with each workshop aimed at lowering household energy bills and taking place in the WI Hall on North Street.

The first Bridport Housing Fair was hailed by the Mayor of Bridport Cllr, Ian Bark, as an important step in local attempts to create a fairer and more affordable housing system:

He said: “A roof over your head is something which in the 21st Century everyone should have access to. But sadly, for many local people, achieving this is a daily struggle.

"They can barely afford to put a roof over their heads, because they are trapped in a low wage economy. The Housing Fair organised by our very own new community land trust – called Bridport Area Housing, or BACH for short, is focused on exploring and finding solutions and opportunities for the future and, most importantly, coming together as a community to sort the problem out for ourselves.”

Bridport Housing Week kicked off on Thursday, October 21 with a discussion in Bridport Town Hall on 'tackling Bridport's housing crisis through community-led solutions'.

The project was led by Bridport Town Council, Raise the Roof, Wessex Community Assets and Bridport Area Community Housing (BACH) - a recently established not-for-profit organisation which aims to provide affordable homes for local people.

Phyllida Culpin, a board member of Bridport Area Community Housing, was pleased that the events during the first Bridport Housing Week 'achieved the aim of reinforcing the need for community-led solutions'.

He said: "Last Saturday’s Housing Fair served as a platform for providing valuable information to those in housing need and to those interested in rising to the challenge of finding new solutions. We are now looking for small sites in the Bridport area to create affordable housing.

"We are particularly interested in supporting initiatives that are co-designed and self-built by the people who will live in the homes, using modern, off-site construction techniques.”

For more information and the opportunity to follow-up on Bridport Housing Week, visit the BACH website, BridportACH.org.uk