A new report from countryside charity CPRE has suggested that England is in the midst of a “rural housing crisis” as people are driven from country living by record house prices, low wages, a rise in second home ownership and short term lets. It also highlights the impact of 300,000 people on waiting lists for social housing in rural England, a backlog which it says would take 89 years to clear.
‘”Unraveling a crisis: the state of rural affordable housing in England” sets out the causes of the problem and lays bare its impact on real people. CPRE say that levels of homelessness have leapt 40% in just five years in rural areas, where localities are being “drained of skills, economic activity and vital public services.”
The report highlights what it calls the “extreme disparity” between rural house prices (high) and wages (low) pointing to neat 100% increases in house prices in the countryside compared to urban areas in the 5 years to 2022. The average cost of a home in a rural community now £419,000, and increase of 29%, and rural earnings increased by just 19% to a total of £25,600.
Local authorities have not replaced social housing at the rate properties have been sold under the Right to Buy policy, leading to a chronic shortage of housing for people who need it most. More than 300,000 people are on waiting lists for social rented housing in rural England, an increase of just over 10% since 2018. And despite planning policies which ensure the building of “affordable” homes, they are often anything but according to the charity.
The report also looks at ‘Section 157’ powers; where the government has legal powers to protect council housing purchased under the Right to Buy scheme from being sold off at market rates or as second homes. The report concludes that these powers apply to around half of all rural parishes in England and exclude whole counties such as Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire, and also large towns. There are several large towns, particularly places like Cirencester, Frome, Padstow, Sherborne and St Ives in south west England, where there is a particular lack of affordable housing.
Listing it’s own recommendations to deal with the issues, the report calls on the government to
- Ensure the term ‘affordable housing’ is redefined to directly link to average local incomes
- Increase the minimum amount of genuinely affordable housing required by national planning policy and implement ambitious targets for the construction of social rented homes.
- Support local communities to deliver small-scale developments of genuinely affordable housing and make it easier for councils to purchase land at a reasonable price, enabling the construction of social housing and vital infrastructure.
- Introduce a register of second homes and short-term lets, with new powers for local authorities to levy additional council tax on second homes.
- Extend restrictions on the resale of ‘affordable housing’ to all parishes with fewer than 3,000 inhabitants to ensure properties continue to be used by local workers, not as second homes or holiday lets.
Commenting on the report CPRE Chief Executive Roger Mortlock said:
“Decades of inaction have led to an affordable housing crisis that is ripping the soul from our rural communities. Solutions do exist and the next government must set and deliver ambitious targets for new, genuinely affordable and social rented rural housing, curbing the boom of second homes and short-term lets.
“Record house prices and huge waiting lists for social housing are driving people out of rural communities, contributing to soaring levels of often hidden rural homelessness. Urgent change is required to ensure we don’t end up with rural communities that are pricing out the very people needed to keep them vibrant.”
