Sian would love to stay in the village where she grew up. She’d love her daughter to go to the same primary school she did. But the finances don’t stack up.

So she, her partner and their young daughter live with her parents - but it’s not a long-term solution.

There are For Sale signs up in the village but they’ve been up a long time because no-one is buying and those selling can’t afford to take a hit.

There are places to rent but if you’re on an average salary then you’re simply not going to be able to afford it.

A local builder is just completing his latest project. It’s one of the few signs of construction activity in our community of 1,900. (The other is a huge villa some millionaire is sticking on the green belt).

This new house is a big one and really we need flats for people like Sian.

Sian is not alone.

The number of people waiting for affordable housing in rural areas has increased by more than a third over the past five years.

The parish council is doing something about this. We’ve just got the first grant towards our £500,000 project to convert a former Victorian school building. The ground floor will house community facility and a playgroup. The new top floor will be four flats for rent aimed squarely at local people in need of accommodation.

It won’t help Sian though as we won’t be taking families because it’s single people that find it toughest and we need the income from four rentals.

It’s a start though and frankly no-one else seems to be making an effort for the people in my village.