An “acute and overlooked” shortage of affordable housing poses a threat to the survival of communities in rural England, a countryside charity has warned.
Britons are being driven out of the countryside by record house prices, low wages and a surge in second homes and short-term lets, the CPRE reveals in a report published today.
Roger Mortlock, CPRE chief executive, 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.”
The charity said the countryside, where levels of homelessness have leapt 40 per cent in five years, is being drained of skills, economic activity and vital public services.
The average house price in rural England is now £419,000.
Rural social housing waiting lists have risen since 2020/21 in all but two regions in England.
It would take 89 years to clear the social housing waiting list under the current build rate, the report found.
The CPRE said: “Government must redefine the term ‘affordable housing’ so that the cost of new affordable homes for sale or rent are directly linked to average local incomes.
“Where homes are not linked to average local incomes they should not be classed as affordable, as this obscures the type of housing that is being delivered.”
It also recommended the introduction of a second home and short term lets register.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities has been contacted for a comment.
