Launching our first feature

One of the major problems affecting people living on Exmoor is the cost of housing – the average house on Exmoor sells for almost £230,000 (www.rightmove.co.uk), while the average household income is about a tenth of that. When work is seasonal and houses are so expensive mortgages are beyond the reach of most people, especially young people. This leaves renting as the next best option, but the high prices can make this unfeasible.

Renting can be made a lot more affordable by sharing with other people though. Suddenly that £600 2-bed cottage that you couldn’t have afforded to rattle around in on your own is twice the fun and half the price. Looking at it this way, you suddenly find a lot more places you could afford to live in, perhaps closer to work or services that make life easier. If only you could find someone to fill those other rooms though.

This is where yerp.org.uk steps in. We’re launching a forum – somewhere to place an ad to find someone else looking for a flatshare in the same area you are. When you’ve built up your posse you can start to look for somewhere to live together.

It doesn’t cost a penny, so you’ve got nothing to lose. Click through to the forum and find your new housemates!

First post

It isn’t always easy being a young person living in the country. Sure, there’s the fresh air and decent ciders. But there’s also expensive housing, difficult travel and fewer jobs. yerp.org.uk will collect information and news on the issues faced by rural communities into one place, where hopefully it can do some good.

Not only that, but over the coming months we’ll be adding simple services that could really make a difference, so keep an eye on us.