THE number of people waiting for an affordable rural home has soared, suggest new figures released on Monday (29 September).

• Housing costs more in the countryside
• Minister's pledge on affordable housing

Nearly 700,000 people are stuck on waiting lists for an affordable home in rural England, say campaigners.

Over the last five years, the number of people waiting for an affordable home in country areas has soared by 37% - up from 507,757 in 2003 to 695,735 last year.

More affordable homes are urgently needed

The figures were released by the National Housing Federation and the Campaign to Protect Rural England.

The two organisations have teamed up to launch a charter, Save Rural England, Build Affordable Homes (pdf, 812kb), setting out how the supply of affordable homes could be increased in rural communities.

It reveals that the proportion of homeless households in rural areas has more than doubled over the last five years from 16% to 37% of the national total.

With many rural youngsters priced out of the housing market, the federation and the CPRE said rural communities faced an uncertain future unless action was taken to address the lack of affordable homes.

The only way to solve the problem is to build a limited number of affordable homes in every village and rural town where a need has been identified.

Recommendations made in the charter include:

• Ensuring a fair share of government spending on social housing is committed to delivering affordable rural homes.
• Restricting the right to buy in rural areas of acute housing pressure.
• Ensuring all rural planning authorities set ambitious but achievable affordable housing targets.
  

The Federation and CPRE are calling on the government to publish a clear timetable for responding to Liberal Democrat MP Matthew Taylor’s landmark report into the rural housing crisis.

Since the report was published in July, the government has given no indication if it will act on its findings.

Federation chief executive David Orr said: "The rural housing crisis is intensifying rapidly, with more and more people being priced out of the market and having to live in cramped and unsuitable conditions.

"Ministers need urgently to implement the key recommendations in the Taylor Review and the Federation and CPRE joint action plan if they are to help those in need of an affordable rural home.

"Without urgent action by ministers many of our villages are in danger of becoming the preserve of the rich and weekend playgrounds for second home owners, with schools, pubs and post offices at risk of closing because of a lack of customers.

"Others are at risk of becoming very poor – as economic activity and young people of a working age are simply squeezed out."

CPRE chief executive Shaun Spiers said the future looked bleak for many people and rural communities unless action was taken now to provide more affordable homes.

In south-west England, for example, at least 11% of the local population in four rural districts is on a waiting list for affordable housing.

In the Lake District authority of Allerdale, the number of households applying for an affordable home has increased by 107% over the last five years.

And in Dorset, house prices are over 15 times local incomes, one in 30 homes is a second home and waiting lists have doubled in the past five years.

Some 311,989 households are now waiting for an affordable rural home.

Mr Spiers said: "Today's challenging housing market highlights the need for public investment to ensure rural communities receive a fair share so that they can have the homes they need.

"It also suggests a growing role for community-led initiatives, such as Community Land Trusts."

                  See also:
                                • 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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