Rural geography II: Bridging housing and homes in rural research

Abstract

This report undertakes to bridge the notions of rural housing provision and homemaking, highlighting how structural conditions and lived experiences are mutually constitutive. Drawing on rural geography research, it explores how social relations, everyday practices, and engagements with material and non-human environments shape processes of belonging and dwelling. The analysis identifies key conditions that enable homemaking, including social networks, routines, and locally embedded skills, while also addressing processes of home unmaking linked to exclusion, policy frameworks, and labour market dynamics. The report argues for further critical interrogation of rural housing provision and homemaking, bridging structural and experiential dimensions.