Rural Housing Crisis ‘Deepened By New Right To Buy Policy’

Lack of homes in the countryside is "extremely worrying" for rural communities in the eastern region and new Government policies could exacerbate the housing crisis. According to a new report from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), there is a 76 per cent shortfall in rural affordable housing with the average cost of a house in some countryside communities 11 times greater than average annual wages. The Institute's Rural Policy Paper called on rural estate owners to work with Local Authorities to create more affordable new homes, but the CLA said landowners, who were already bring forward land forward at considerable undervalue, are likely to be disincentivised by the new Housing and Planning Bill. Read more on the Hertfordshire Mercury website.