The scheme aims to keep rural services alive

The event in the Northumberland village of Kielder on Tuesday, is part of The Prince of Wales' Affordable Rural Housing Initiative.

It will share details about successful projects and how they can be expanded to other areas in the region.

The initiative aims to help local people stay in their communities.

It is being led by Business in the Community and hopes to involve the public sector in providing affordable rural housing.

Tuesday's event is being hosted by Northumbrian Water, a leading partner in the initiative.

Managing director John Cuthbert said: "We are involved with two of the key building blocks for sustainable communities - land and water.

"Now we have plans for an affordable housing project on one of our sites and have identified other opportunities.

"We hope that this meeting will help us to identify new opportunities to create affordable housing for some of the communities we serve."