More than 2,000 English villages have been classified as unsuitable for expansion and are therefore missing out on new affordable housing, according to a new report by the Countryside Landowners Association (CLA).

The report, Sustainable Villages, analyses how 50 local authorities decide on where to build new housing developments.

However, the CLA has demonstrated that often the criteria, which assesses local services and amenities, can be outdated as only 18 per cent of local authorities consider broadband when assessing the sustainability of rural settlements.

CLA president Tim Breitmeyer has called on the Government to update rural planning policy to help alleviate the housing crisis and so that new rural settlements are ‘not trapped in analogue’.

Full article:

→ Property Wire - Analysis finds over 2,000 English villages are deemed not suitable for new homes