Home seekers in rural areas of England, particularly families, have less of a chance of getting on the property ladder than those living in cities, new research has found.
Overall less than one in 10 homes in the countryside are affordable and it means many people are having to move to cities, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research report on the housing crisis in rural England.
It points out that the average rural house price is around £19,000 above the average for England as a whole, at £320,700 compared to £301,900, and is more than £87,000 higher than the urban average excluding London of £233,600.
Also, a family with one child, earning one full time and one part time typical wage, would spend 31% of its income on rent in a rural area compared to 19% if they lived in an urban area, the report says.
The IPPR is calling for an ambitious programme of rural house building. ‘At the heart of this crisis is a huge shortage of affordable homes and the failure of successive Governments to develop policies which meet the needs of rural areas,’ said Luke Murphy, associate director at the IPPR.
‘We are calling for a new deal on housing for rural communities. This must include a new rural affordable homes programme, reform of the planning process to allow for the provision of affordable homes in villages and a commitment to put the needs of rural areas at the heart of government policy making,’ he added.
The study also found that in 2016/2017 some 1,071 homes were brought forward on rural exception sites. This is equivalent to 10% of all the affordable homes built in larger council areas and 26% in villages of less than 3,000 people.
However more than half of these, some 55%, were developed by just five local authorities. Of these, Cornwall built 37% of the total homes delivered on exception sites according to Government data.
The report recommends a new deal for rural communities, suggesting that local and combined authorities should enter into two way negotiations with central Government to develop devolution deals for rural areas, including the possibility of bespoke deals on housing and planning in which ambitious commitments are agreed to increase affordable housing supply.
It suggests the creation of a rural community house building programme and for land to be brought forward where it is needed at a price that means it can be developed for affordable housing.
It says that land owners are willing to bring forward land but need support. What is more, rural exception sites, which have been successful at supplying land for affordable housing in rural areas, are being undermined by poorly designed policy that has unintended consequences in rural areas.
The report concludes that putting the needs of rural communities at the heart of government. Government should make a renewed commitment to rural communities, more explicitly designing policy to meet, and not adversely impact on, their needs, while embedding the interests of rural communities in the work of Defra.
