Affordable housing needed to keep villages alive

13 July 2010

Without new affordable housing many villages and rural areas will become enclaves of the wealthy, with local shops and services a distant memory. This is why the National Housing Federation (NHF), with support from a number of partners including Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), are today (Tuesday) launching a new a guide, 'Affordable housing keeps villages alive,' which aims to make the case for new rural affordable housing

Living and working in the countryside is increasingly difficult for many people on lower household incomes. The Commission for Rural Communities (CRC) found in 2007 the average rural house cost 6.8 times the average rural household income. Between 2005 and 2008 rural council waiting lists increased by 11 per cent and in some areas waiting lists more than doubled.

Such a shortage in affordable housing does not just result in unbalanced communities but also affects rural services as regular local users disappear and lower paid jobs go unfilled:

• 13 rural pubs are shutting down each week – almost two every day

• 400 rural shops are expected to close this year

• 62 village primary schools were shutdown between 2004 and 2008. The highest closure rate since the 1990s

• 200 more village schools are projected to close by 2014

• Rural England has lost one fifth of its post office network since 2000.

Kate Houghton, CPRE planning officer, says: “The people who are being priced out of the countryside are the people who make up the lifeblood of rural communities. If the people who maintain our rural areas and their services cannot find housing locally, the heart of many communities will be lost. If rural areas are not become the preserve of second home owners, the retired and younger people commuting to work in towns and cities, we urgently need more affordable rural housing.”

This new housing does not have to threaten protected landscapes or Green Belt and should not be imposed on local communities. In line with the government's localism agenda, local authorities should work with residents to identify plots of land for small scale developments.

Kate Houghton concluded: "There is a chronic shortage of affordable housing in some areas of the countryside and building market housing will not solve the problem. For the promise of the 'Big Society' to work, there must be vibrant communities to embrace it - without affordable housing these communities will simply not exist. It is possible to build affordable housing, protect the landscape and preserve rural communities if the right decisions are taken now."

David Orr, National Housing Federation chief executive, says: "Unless we build more affordable homes for the local families who sustain and enrich village life, then we must accept that traditional community life will be wiped out within a generation in many areas.

"The cornerstones of English village life – the shop, the school and the pub - are all closing down in alarming numbers because families and young people are being priced out of the local area.

"We're delighted to work with partners like CPRE to make the case for rural affordable housing. This publication demonstrates how just a few well-designed affordable homes on a suitable site can make a real difference to the viability of public services in rural villages."

As well as NHF and CPRE, the guide was produced in association with the Countryside Alliance, Commission for Rural Communities and Action with Communities in Rural England.

The full report, which is full of further stats and case studies, is available form the NHF and CPRE press offices.

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