New research by countryside charity, CPRE has revealed a serious shortfall in rural social housing, with only 20% of local authorities setting targets to deliver it.
CPRE is urging the government to make social homes a planning requirement and better support rural councils to meet local needs.
The report, produced with UWE researchers, found that just one in five rural local authorities have specific targets in place for social rent housing in their Local Plans. In fact, several rural local authorities have no plans to build any new social housing.
CPRE says this represents a fundamental failure to address the housing needs of local people who cannot afford market-rate or affordable housing.
The report follows a decision by the government to scrap rural targets for new affordable homes in its new Social and Affordable Housing Programme. CPRE research shows that there are currently more than 300,000 people on waiting lists for social housing in rural England.
While the recent adoption of the government’s new way to calculate housing demand (the Standard Method) has led to an overestimation in some parts of the country, the new research shows that 79% of rural local authorities have consistently under-supplied new homes compared to the number of new households. Housing shortfalls range from 41 homes in Wyre to 28,625 homes in Dorset.
Recent government figures reveal a deepening housing crisis across rural England, with homelessness up 73% since 2018. Rates of rough sleeping in some countryside areas now exceed those in major cities. Research carried out by CPRE in 2023 revealed that twelve rural local authorities had rates of rough sleeping higher than the national average and seven higher than that in London.
In light of these findings, CPRE is calling on the government to:
- Make the inclusion of social housing and affordable homes a condition of planning permission for all new development
- Support Homes England to help rural local authorities increase the delivery of new social and affordable homes
CPRE head of planning, Paul Miner, said: “The government’s commitment to build more social housing is encouraging, but we’re not yet convinced that enough will be done to tackle the housing crisis in rural areas. Not enough priority is being given in rural local plans to building social homes, so Angela Rayner needs to step in and make it a clear expectation that we see more genuinely affordable homes in every new housing estate in rural England.”
