HOUSING minister Iain Wright has outlined new proposals to help keep homes affordable for rural communities.

Housing is the 'most pressing' rural issue

The first proposal is contained within the consultation document Shared Ownership and Leasehold Enfranchisement and Designation of 'Protected' Areas.

This plan would enable affordable housing providers in protected areas to retain a share in new shared ownership homes, or have the first option to buy back such properties, ensuring they remain available for local families.

In a further step, first-time buyers in rural areas could own a home for as little as £60,000 through a consultation to expand Community Land Trusts (CLTs).

This second proposal is detailed within the consultation document Community Land Trust: Making It Happen.

Mr Wright said he wanted more people able to cut the cost of getting on the housing ladder through CLTs which would see buyers only pay for the building, not the land, of a property.

In Devon, for example, Holsworthy Community Property Trust  is already offering local people flats that cost £115,000 for prices as low as £59,500.

Mr Wright said: "In rural areas where affordable housing is scarce and hard to replace, we  need to make sure those homes are protected for future generations."

He added: "We're providing all the tools so local communities can find a solution that's  right for them."

Graham Garbutt, chief executive of the Commission for Rural Communities, said the lack of affordable housing continued to be the single most pressing  problem faced by rural people.

"This is leading to the loss of young people and  increasing age imbalance, as well as undermining the sustainability of rural  communities.

"Now is the time to be bringing forward proposals that will make a  real difference backed up with funding already allocated to provide affordable  homes in rural towns and villages."

A recent independent review by Matthew Taylor MP found that rural communities were being hampered by a limited supply of affordable rural housing .

The government has pledged to deliver 10,300 new affordable homes in rural communities with fewer than 3,000 inhabitants over the next three years.

But there is also a need for more market homes to meet the needs of rural communities.

The planning policy for housing (PPS3) already puts the onus on local authorities to determine the right level of housing in the right places, taking full account of evidence of local need and demand.

It makes clear that councils can enable small sites in rural areas to be used specifically for affordable housing in and around villages, and provide affordable housing in perpetuity to meet local needs.

Councils also have the flexibility to lower the thresholds above which new development should include affordable housing.

Both consultations close on 31 December 2008.

                  See also:
                                • Affordable homes 'still top the agenda' (5 October 2008)
                                • Rising shortage of rural housing (29 September 2008)
                                • Housing costs more in the countryside (14 September 2008)
                                • Minister's pledge on affordable housing (25 July 2008)
                                • Rural groups welcome housing report (24 July 2008)
                                • Shake-up 'vital' for affordable housing (23 July 2008)
                                • Campaigners look to housing report (22 July 2008)
                                • Brown to propose 'cheap rural homes' (31 March 2008)
                                • Government defends record on housing (27 February 2008)
                                • Appeal for evidence on rural housing (18 February 2008
                                • Warning over affordable rural homes (23 November 2007)
                                • Get tough on second homes, PM told (18 November 2007)
                                • Call to boost affordable rural homes (18 October 2007)
                                • £10.2bn boost for affordable homes (16 October 2007)
                                • Watchdog welcomes housing pledge (13 July 2007)
                                • Civil servants debate housing crisis (11 July 2007)
                                • Councils 'could provide more homes (3 July 2007)
                                • PM Brown says homes are priority (27 June 2007)
                                • Pressure builds over rural housing (8 June 2007)

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