Cornwall

Save Rural England, Build Affordable Homes

Call for action on rural housing as nearly 700,000 join waiting lists

A joint announcement today by the National Housing Federation and CPRE warned that nearly 700,000 people are now stuck on waiting lists for an affordable home in rural England.

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.

That means that on average 14,494 people have been added to housing waiting lists in rural areas every month over the last four years.

The situation is now so serious that the Federation and CPRE are today launching a charter, Save Rural England, Build Affordable Homes, containing an eight point blueprint, setting out how the supply of affordable homes could be significantly, and appropriately, increased in rural communities.

Figures released by the Federation and CPRE expose the scale of the housing crisis in the countryside.

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.

In four South West rural districts, at least 11% of the local population 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.

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.

The number of households now on waiting lists for an affordable rural home is 311,989.

Unless action is taken to address the lack of affordable homes rural communities the Federation and CPRE fear that the younger generation will be priced out of the market in many rural areas and as a result they will face an uncertain future. 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.

The recommendations made in the charter include:

(1) Ensuring that a fair share of future government spending on social housing is committed to delivering affordable rural homes.

(2) Restricting the right to buy in rural areas of acute housing pressure.

(3) 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, as well as those stated in the joint action plan produced by the Federation and CPRE, 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: "Unless action is taken now to provide the affordable homes we need, the future looks bleak for many people and their communities in the countryside.  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."

The eight steps to increase the supply of affordable rural housing

(1)  More public investment

(2)  Effective planning

(3)  Securing mixed neighbourhoods

(4)  Better use of existing buildings

(5)  Achieving high design and environmental standards

(6)  Restricting the "Right to Buy"

(7)  More social rented homes

(8)  Community-centred approach

Full details of these eight steps can be found on the website of CPRE's National Office - http://www.cpre.org.uk/

Editorial comment by CPRE Cornwall

Without a definition of the term "affordable homes", it must be assumed that this is a reference to the many people who just cannot afford to buy their own homes because property prices are too high and rural income, especially in Cornwall, is so low.

There is a clear need for the restoration of Council Houses, as this will provide reasonably priced rented accommodation for those wishing to live and work in the countryside but who are unable to afford today's property prices. 

The Council House system, which worked quite well, was abolished some years ago by a Conservative Government, when everyone was encouraged to own their own property.  This obviously hasn't worked!  Neither did the accompanying exhortation at that time of investing in stocks and shares.  We have only to look at today's financial mess to see that for many this ideal was just sheer fallacy.  By encouraging people to take action that they would not normally contemplate, the governments have introduced changes that have on more than one occasion proved to be disastrous.

We do need more houses for people to rent.  However, we do not want to start a house-building spree.  Let us first look at all those houses that have been unoccupied for years and use them.  Local authorities should undertake a review of all properties in their area, determine which have been empty for a long time, take possession of them, renovate if appropriate, and rent them out to those wishing to live in the area.

Whilst it is most laudable to provide housing for all, it must not be at the expense of ruining the environment by just building our way out of the present housing market fiasco.  We have to recognise that property prices are too high for many and that many people would prefer to rent rather than risk a purchase with a mortgage that they cannot control.

Ted Venn

29^th September 2008