Efforts to provide affordable housing in Cornwall have struck the right balance between protecting the countryside and serving the local people trying to get into accommodation, a rural expert has said.

Dr Stuart Burgess, chairman of the Commission for Rural Communities, which aims to tackle disadvantage in the countryside, praised the achievements of the Cornwall Rural Housing Association (CRHA) for working with the county's community land trusts in providing affordable homes for local people.

Dr Burgess said he was particularly impressed by the quality, as well as quantity, of homes built by the association.

He said: "The last thing I want is for homes to be built everywhere – you need the right number to suit the community."

Dr Burgess was addressing the annual general meeting of the Cornwall Rural Housing Association at Trelissick, Truro. In the past year the association has built 66 affordable houses, either for sale or rent, in various parts of the county.

Two of these homes are to be officially opened on Bryher, Isles of Scilly, this week. The two and three-bedroom homes will be among the first ever examples of social housing provided on the islands.

Dr Burgess said some organisations, including the National Trust, had raised high-profile objections to the Government's draft National Planning Policy Framework, which had a presumption in favour of sustainable development and the end of the target for building 60 per cent of new homes on brownfield land.

He said there was a danger that the tone of the current debate risked losing sight of some fundamental problems facing our countryside.

He added: "England's villages need more housing if they are going to survive, and thrive as vibrant communities for the next generation. That is the best way to keep the ever-decreasing number of rural shops, post offices and pubs open, all of which provide a lifeline for local people.

"I'm not talking about huge developments which dwarf the existing village, but small developments of perhaps ten or 12 dwellings, in keeping with the environment."

CRHA chairman Graham Facks-Martin said that during the past year the association has completed its largest ever annual development programme, leading to an increase in housing stock from 250 to 294 dwellings.

Earlier this week, David Cameron aired the prospect of ending the housing crisis which has blighted the Westcountry by offering developers Government land on a "build now, pay later" basis.