Rural housing waiting list grows

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Nearly 700,000 people in the countryside are currently waiting for an affordable home, 37% more than in 2003, according to the National Housing Federation and the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).

At the same time the proportion of homeless households in rural areas has more than doubled during the past five years, from 16% of the national total in 2003 to 37% now.

The groups warned that with the younger generations priced out of the market in many rural areas, communities faced an uncertain future unless action was taken to address the lack of affordable housing.

They added that the only way to solve the problem was to build a limited number of affordable homes in every village and rural town where a shortage has been identified.

The shortage of affordable homes is particularly acute in some areas of the country, with at least 11% of local people on waiting lists for affordable housing in four rural districts in the South West.

In Dorset, where house prices are more than 15 times local earnings and one in 30 properties is a second home, waiting lists have doubled during the past five years.

The groups have published a charter setting out how the supply of affordable housing could be increased in rural communities.

They are calling on the Government to ensure that a fair share of future spending on social housing is spent on delivering affordable rural homes.

They also want the right to buy social housing to be restricted in rural areas where there is an acute shortage of homes, while they want all rural planning authorities to set ambitious but achievable targets for affordable homes.