Rural housing

News

15 April 1989

The report warns that the fabric of rural life is beginning to decay under the pressures, with the closure of village post offices and shops, the decline of rural bus services and schools, as well as the disintegration of village social and church life. “There is resentment between the traditional rural population and the influx of strangers. In Wales, where national identity and the existence of language are threatened, then that resentment can become violent.”

Section 52 agreements have been used successfully to restrict the occupancy of new dwellings or the use of a site to local needs only. But the snag is that they can be overturned on appeal. The report points out that even where the Secretary of State has approved development plan policies restricting the provision of new housing to that necessary to meet local needs, he has steadfastly refused to approve or accept policies which would enable local planning authorities to ensure that houses which are built to meet the needs of local people are actually used to cater for those needs, rather than to meet extraneous demands.

The Government has recently announced measures to encourage the release of land for low-cost rural housing, in circumstances where new housing development would not normally be permitted. This is a useful step forward, the ACC believes.

Building societies should also be encouraged to adopt a more flexible approach to mortgage advances and part-ownership schemes where subsequent sales are restricted to local people, the report suggests.

The measures being adopted by a wide variety of statutory and non-statutory bodies to deal with rural housing stress are praiseworthy and welcome, the report concludes, but these measures are fragmented and are taken in a policy vacuum. The Government should produce as a matter of urgency an overall policy document for rural housing which clearly sets out the roles which it expects the various organisations to play and how it sees resources being made available to them. And if the Government wishes district councils to help the private rented sector, it should give the councils greater freedom to redeploy capital receipts than is envisaged in the recent proposals for control over capital and borrowing; it should also permit district councils to use extra revenues from higher council house rents with more flexibility.

(*) Homes We Can Afford. Association of County Councils, Eaton House, 66a Eaton Square, London SW1W 9BH. £4.95.

An overall policy on rural housing is urgently required: a report from the Association of County Councils says that families being priced out of the countryside need help. The use of houses for second homes, retirement homes and commuter homes is affecting almost all rural areas, with increasing prices putting them beyond the reach of local people. The report warns that the fabric of rural life is beginning to decay under the pressures, with the closure of village post offices and shops, the decline of rural bus services and schools, as well as the disintegration of village social and church life. “There is resentment between the traditional rural population and the influx of strangers. In Wales, where national identity and the existence of language are threatened, then that resentment can become violent.” Section 52 agreements have been used successfully to restrict the occupancy of new dwellings or the use of a site to local needs only. But the snag is that they can be overturned on appeal. The report points out that even where the Secretary of State has approved development plan policies restricting the provision of new housing to that necessary to meet local needs, he has steadfastly refused to approve or accept policies which would enable local planning authorities to ensure that houses which are built to meet the needs of local people are actually used to cater for those needs, rather than to meet extraneous demands. The Government has recently announced measures to encourage the release of land for low-cost rural housing, in circumstances where new housing development would not normally be permitted. This is a useful step forward, the ACC believes. Building societies should also be encouraged to adopt a more flexible approach to mortgage advances and part-ownership schemes where subsequent sales are restricted to local people, the report suggests. The measures being adopted by a wide variety of statutory and non-statutory bodies to deal with rural housing stress are praiseworthy and welcome, the report concludes, but these measures are fragmented and are taken in a policy vacuum. The Government should produce as a matter of urgency an overall policy document for rural housing which clearly sets out the roles which it expects the various organisations to play and how it sees resources being made available to them. And if the Government wishes district councils to help the private rented sector, it should give the councils greater freedom to redeploy capital receipts than is envisaged in the recent proposals for control over capital and borrowing; it should also permit district councils to use extra revenues from higher council house rents with more flexibility. (*) Homes We Can Afford. Association of County Councils, Eaton House, 66a Eaton Square, London SW1W 9BH. £4.95.