Our area and communities

We are located in a rural part of County Durham, in a district formerly known as Wear Valley. The locality is a mixture of urban and very rural areas, with most of the population living in the more urban, eastern part of the district.

Our population is slowly growing and, whilst this is helping our communities to diversify and become more sustainable, it is changing demand for local public services.

Our communities face many challenges including poor health, high unemployment rates and inconsistent access to services. It is very important to recognise these issues in order to understand why we have chosen to undertake the actions we have set out in our business delivery plan.

The district has recently undergone a major political change. All local government arrangements in County Durham have been re-organised, amalgamating all seven district councils and the county council into one large, unitary authority called Durham County Council.

These changes have affected Dale & Valley Homes because our former agreement with Wear Valley District Council (which permits us to manage their housing stock) has switched to an agreement with Durham County Council.