The lack of affordable housing threatens to undermine the future of many rural areas, the Countryside Agency has warned.
It said the future could see a dearth of facilities such as post offices, pubs and shops.
The agencys annual “state of the countryside” survey included a housing affordability index which showed that in seven out of eight English regions, rural homes are much less affordable than those in urban areas.
Financial Times 29/05/02 page 6
The Times 29/05/02 page 7