There has been a sharp rise in the number of homeless people in England's rural areas, according to a report by the government's watchdog on rural affairs, the Countryside Agency. The proportion of homeless households in remote rural districts rose by almost 30% in two years, according to the State of the Countryside Report 2004.
 | ASK THE EXPERT You put your questions to Jeremy Worth from the Countryside Agency in an interactive forum. |
The report says the problem has been intensified by people moving from towns to the country, pushing up prices, and increasing demand for rural homes.
Homelessness charities warned of a "devastating impact" on rural families.
Are city people driving up rural prices? What should be done to ease the countryside crisis? Have you been affected?
This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.
The following comments reflect the balance of opinion we have received so far:
I've lived in Gloucestershire for over 30 years. My wife and I brought our present house 9 years ago. We both work but, if we wanted to purchase our house now, we couldn't afford it! However, problems within the countryside go much deeper than that. Council tax is, on average, higher, public transport is, at best, limited, more likely non-existent. Therefore the vast majority have to drive, but, of course, petrol prices are often much higher too. Too many people who move out to the countryside from the city live their lives as they would in the city, they lock themselves away, making no effort to chat to people or get involved in their community. They might have a house in the country, but very few actually live in the country.
Lee, Rural Gloucestershire I live in a lovely little village in the Chilterns, some "locals", some "incomers" like me. Which group give of their time to be governors of the local primary school? Who volunteers to maintain the footpaths in the surrounding countryside? Who maintains the recreation ground and plays in the cricket team? Who keeps the pub in business? The answer, again and again, is people like me!
John, England
The problem with second-home ownership pushing up house prices in the countryside, and thereby causing locals to lose out is due to the inherent greed of those wealthy enough to spend more on their second home than some can pay for their primary home. A solution from abroad is the Danish, which says that no home can be left vacant without the owner being forced to rent it out. This rule effectively rules out second-home ownership.
Robert Niklasson, St. Andrews, Fife
|  I can't afford to buy even a window-box  |
I think one of the points that has been missed here is that rural communities are very different in character to city communities, which by their nature tend to be broader and more transient. If your family have lived in a village for generations and you have always lived there, I think it's pretty natural to feel you belong there. I live in the country with my parents because I can't afford to buy even a window-box anywhere that I can get a job. Many of the village houses here have been bought as second homes or by London-oriented commuters.
Lola, very rural Norfolk I don't live in a village but I fully understand the problems (as members of my family are farmers). Sadly TV is partially to blame with property programmes telling people how to buy a house in the country. The only way to solve the problem is the build houses with deeds of covenant that state only people born in the village can buy them.
Al Smith, Cardiff, UK
House prices rise because rich incomers buy them all up. These people all drive, so rural public transport is under-patronised and eventually withdrawn. Also these people drive to large supermarkets, so local stores/post offices close through lack of business. I've given up worrying, what am I - a low-paid disabled person who doesn't drive - supposed to do?
Jason, UK
| The countryside cannot be frozen in the mists of time |
Sorry guys but you really must get it around your heads that change is here to stay. The countryside cannot be frozen in the mists of time and never change. Commuters will increase as transport links improve. We will soon see people living in northern France travelling to London daily to work on the Eurostar. Housing supply and demand will rule so you may as well jump on the band wagon and join in now.
Terry, Epsom, England The fault lies with house prices in the city being allowed to rise to astronomical levels. The difference between the sale price of a house in London and buying price of a bigger, better house in a less expensive area is a great pension booster for many. Unfortunately a lot of city dwellers who have little or no experience of country life will find themselves in difficulties if they become unable to drive as hospitals, shops and entertainment are often without reach otherwise.
Edward, Oakengates, UK
At one stage (before my great-grandmother died) four generations of our family lived in our village. When I married, even though my husband was earning a good wage and had a flat to sell to offset costs, we could not afford to buy a house in the village. It took six years for us to afford to look at village properties and other friends, in a similar situation, are still unable to afford this and my sister has had to move 20 miles away to afford a property. In the same period the number of single householders or professional couples from outside of the area moving into the village has grown (because they can afford the prices and are then causing them to escalate). This is an increasing problem which seems to be ignored rather than 'upset' the incomers who are taking our houses!
Mik B, Bletchingdon, UK
The real problem is the stupid planning system and 'greenbelt' designations which make it so expensive to build new houses in rural areas. Lack of supply means prices are pushed up. Scrap the planning regulations - or at least introduce a policy of de-facto approval for new developments unless there are very good reasons to reject them - and then watch the builders rush in to solve the problem!
David Moran, Nr. Aberdeen I live (in rented property) in a beautiful village. My partner and I would never be able to raise the mortgage on a local property, even thought the repayments would be less than our monthly rent. This despite the fact we are both professionals, employed full-time in the public sector. Transport services are minimal and dwindling every year. It stands to reason that without the local transport infrastructure in place, the only folk who can afford to live in our village are those who can afford two cars, and someone to chauffeur their children to and from school. Silly me, I mean someone whose children have gone away to public school.
Helen, Hants
I have recently seen an old church being renovated into flats in a Cornish village. The flats were termed as 'Luxury', therefore adding thousands of pounds to the price for a few nice bathroom and kitchen fittings. The local council are to blame for letting this happen. These flats could have been made affordable. But somewhere along the line there is always money at the bottom of it. The problem lies with the local councils and their planners.
Paul, Wiltshire
There is a plentiful of surplus property, brownfield sites and empty office space in the capital - I see it every day. If crime and the cost of living in London were better - would so many people want to move to the county and thereby push up prices? If the government made developers pay twice the tax for greenfield as compared to reusing land already built on once, perhaps the focus could return to the cities.
John, Watford, UK
As a rural GP, I am aware that the poverty that is being felt is also having adverse effects on the health on the increasingly isolated elderly population. The government has failed time and time again to address the issues of rurality and its health funding. There is an ignorance about the needs of a rural population which is not being helped by an increasingly centralised government.
H. Davies, Gloucestershire Never mind incomers, the latest scam in my village is that rich established incomers, are buying houses for their children to live almost next door.
Brian, UK
Both my husband and I have worked hard and saved hard over 25 years of marriage, brought up two children etc etc and all through this dreamed of a second home in the country. Now when we have managed to buy one should we be penalised because others (who may drink, smoke, gamble, take expensive holidays in the sun etc) don't like people having more than them? We contribute to the village we are in - use local shops, do not let out our cottage to anyone for gain, spend more time and money on it keeping it in good order for future generations - bah humbug to those who bleat!
Lynne Mosley
Having been forced out of my village as I was unable to afford the prices even with 2 good incomes, it's ridiculous. Villages are losing their community as commuters and town people use it as a pretty setting for their houses and not supporting the rural way of life. I have no problem with people coming to the country provided they respect the way of life, and invest in the community.
David U, Weston Super Mare, Somerset I am 34, have a good job in IT that is well paid. I live in the village I was born and raised in and my family have lived in for generations. But I have to live with my parents as I can't afford to buy a house. A few years ago 15 "starter" homes were built in my village. Now over 75% of them are owned by retired people and one is a holiday cottage!
Rob Cornelius, Shepton Beauchamp, UK
I live in Essex and I work locally, yet prices are determined by the fact that a lot of people commute and earn London salaries. Therefore, the people who are doing what the government want (by living and working in the same area thus reducing pollution) are penalised because we earn lower salaries. The only reason I am able to afford ANYTHING within 15 miles of where I grew up, is because I was left an inheritance. I pity those who are not as lucky.
Sandy, UK
I live in a town and if I had financial freedom I would choose to live in the local countryside. My town has become overdeveloped and gridlocked with traffic. Too many people, too much noise, too much pollution. It's no wonder people want to move to the country. Build more houses in the countryside? We'd soon be back to overdevelopment etc, etc. There must be some way of reducing the amount of people requiring housing! Any thoughts?
Louise McKinnon, St Albans, England Well, incomers have certainly decimated the affordable village housing stock here in just three decades - each small house is then enlarged by 50% and the nimby newcomers (and council planners) now usually object to any other development. It must be feasible to build contemporary housing sympathetically, even in this 'area of outstanding natural beauty' and without resorting to the crude pastiches of local styles favoured by planners and developers.
Mike, Hampshire
People who have more then one property (holiday home or buy to let), should have to pay double the council tax. This might make them think twice before buying.
Leigh, Gatwick
I'd just like to add a reply to those who argue that second home owners need not pay full council tax as they contribute to the local economy and use fewer local services. Have they considered that the pressure on housing creates social problems that put pressure on local housing needs? Further, the tourist industry, though important, does not pay adequate wages for a good standard of living for local inhabitants, and it is this industry, predominantly, that second home owners are supporting, thus prolonging and increasing the countryside's dependence on a low wage economy.
Michael, Cumbria
Why should those who have had to live in city areas have less right to a home in the country than those who have had the fortune to grow up there?
Jason, Nottingham
In all these discussions about not enough housing, not enough services, etc, it is obvious these are not keeping pace with the relentless increases in population. Why does the Government not address this situation instead of sweeping it under the carpet and allowing more and more people into this country? I want to move to the country but simply cannot afford it due to sky high prices.
Les, Morpeth, England
| I desperately wanted to sell to someone local |
I have just sold a house after a relationship breakdown - admittedly for a large profit. But the money I've made is still not enough to get me back on the property ladder. I thought I was selling to a local couple..only to find out that they're letting it. All my other prospective buyers were second-homers. I desperately wanted to sell to someone local, who would stay and contribute something positive the village - but alas, rural salaries haven't kept up with house prices.
AJ, Rural Suffolk This is clearly not a city against country problem, as some people seem to want it to be. The fact is the prices in the British housing market are ridiculous. It's reached the point where very few first-time buyers in the towns or cities can afford the prices. The problem is caused by a lack of new housing being built combined with people who buy property to rent out or as a second holiday home. Inevitably this situation is not sustainable and will lead to a collapse in the property market.
Colin Wright, UK
Perhaps the best way to make second homes less attractive to investors is to restore confidence in the financial markets. There will always be people who want a second home and will pay the premium but at the moment second homes are providing a better return than many conventional investments. Every Tom, Dick and Harry now seems to think that they are a property developer. Better and more effective regulation of our financial markets would be a step in the right direction.
Colin D, London
It is the price we all pay for the huge mobility we abuse now. If we all went no further than the local town in our lives as of old we could still hope to live where we grew up. If you ever move into another place for a new job you are taking some other locals' potential home, for your own benefit. People are not living in cardboard boxes so they are not homeless.
James SG, London, England
Villages and the rural life were never planned or agreed on through some sort of consensus society view - they arose out of economic necessity. Now that the world (and the economy) has moved on why do we try to preserve the past as if that is the way it always was and always should be?
David, Leeds, W Yorks
| In the past at least many farm houses and tied cottages had a clause in their deeds restricting ownership to those owning and working the land |
In the past at least many farm houses and tied cottages had a clause in their deeds restricting ownership to those owning and working the land on which the house stood. It would be perfectly reasonable to apply this to houses everywhere thus making it necessary to live where you earned your living. Those who are willing to work in London to earn London wages should be barred from living possibly hundreds of miles away where those London wages price local wage earners out of the housing market. Local people working in rural areas do have a right to be able to buy a house on their local wages.
Nigel, Hereford, UK
Sure local homes for local people...! In my county Gwynedd (the highest housing cost increases in the UK) where both my brother and my parents lived all their lives and where grew up until I left for University and then could not move back because there were no jobs unless you wanted to be a waitress. I moved to the States for a decent living and to save money and now cannot afford to get back into the housing market. This is the way it is for everyone here in the States and the UK. Am I considered a local? In Wales you have to speak Welsh too to be favourably considered a buyer! I speak Welsh, have money, am educated and cannot move back... life's like that!
Jackie, USA
No second/holiday homes in National Parks, areas of outstanding beauty or within 10 miles of the coast, to reduce housing shortages. This will also reduce weekend commuting and improve the local economy. In addition review VAT to encourage redevelopment in urban areas.
Adrian Morris, Shropshire
| Second homes are luxury items and should be taxed accordingly - add 17.5% VAT |
Second home buyers contribute little to the local economy, they tend purchase at the city stores they are familiar with and bring goods in to the countryside. Second homes are luxury items and should be taxed accordingly - add 17.5% VAT.
Jake Ellis, Birmingham, UK
We live in a free market economy, and the market must decide! Unless, of course, the market is London, in which case it's apparently all right to artificially subsidise local residents who provide essential services to the great and the good. So why the double standard? What argument can be made for subsiding London that can't be made for any other local area with inflated house prices?
Colin MacDonald, Scotland
| Teleworking and learning will make commuting far less common in future |
I would like to see more development in rural villages. Build them back up as communities large enough to have a school a pub and a shop. Teleworking and learning will make commuting far less common in future. What we need are communities that are good to live in.
Richard Meek, Fakenham, Norfolk It is the price we all pay for the huge mobility we abuse now. If we all went no further than the local town in our lives as of old we could still hope to live where we grew up. If you ever move into another place for a new job you are taking some other locals' potential home, for your own benefit.
James SG, London, England
Home owners in rural areas don't have to sell their houses to "outsiders". They can choose to sell their homes to local people at a reduced price if they so wish. Of course none of them choose to do this! I grew up in a very rural area, but had to leave to find a (decent) job. The area would still be totally desolate now if it wasn't for "outsiders" moving in and bringing their wealth with them. Also bear in mind that many of these so-called outsiders were local/rural people once, moving back to their area of origin after making their money in the cities.
Jim, Bracknell
It's all down to double home ownership. Slap a 10% stamp duty on all second homes. That should help dampen the greed of some people and any money raised can go towards low cost housing for locals.
Gerry, Scotland
House prices everywhere are rocketing, not just in rural communities. My partner and I had to save like hell to afford a house in the city where we grew up, proving it's as bad in 'urbia' and 'suburbia' as it is in 'rusitca'.
Darren, York, UK
Local homes for local people is a short step from 'local shop for local people syndrome.' And we know what that leads to..
Tim H, UK
I'm a nurse at a small hospital in the Lake District. How am I supposed to afford a home of my own on my meagre salary? I'd need to change career and become a banker.
Paul Crosbie, Ambleside
| There is no simple answer that will suit everyone |
Much the same happens in the US, where as the population expands, rural farmland is re-zoned for homes, the farmers are unable to pay the suddenly higher taxes, and either sell out to developers or lose their land entirely. The only legal measure that effectively stops this grievous loss of countryside is equally grievous governmental intervention, which treads on private property rights. Expanding populations needs space. There is no simple answer that will suit everyone.
David, Concord, NC, USA I grew up in the countryside, did not have enough money to even rent there and moved to London until I had enough money to move back to the countryside again. Why do people assume that they have the "right" to live where they grew up?
Cath, Surrey, UK
Communities in villages tend to be less robust because they are smaller and they have not had the investment from local government that their larger cousins have been given. Social capital such as village halls and even the village school was originally built by local subscription. Purchasing a house in a village does not buy the incomer into the community. Access to this requires investment of time and support into activities that fund what little social capital there is. This investment tends to be in short supply, but the time to use the capital does not. A tax on second homes does seem a good idea, but it should be to the benefit of the parish council not the district.
Chris, Bucks
You have to question why someone needs more than one home. And why owning a second home is a country with a housing shortage warrants tax breaks!
Dan, UK
| Perhaps there should be a new tax on properties left unoccupied for more than 90% of the time |
Basically 'holiday homes' do not contribute to the community. There are no children for the schools, no shoppers for the village shop, no-one to attend church... Perhaps there should be a new tax on properties left unoccupied for more than 90% of the time which could be used to subsidised the schools, churches and council housing.
Caron, England There isn't a simple answer to this problem. I can't blame city people for wanting to live in the beautiful place I grew up in, and I can't blame the farmers who sell up and take their money when they stand no chance of making a living from farming. You might as well blame it on supermarkets for forcing the price of food down and making traditional farming uneconomic. That's how interconnected things are.
Tom Wiltshire, Leeds, ex-rural Derbyshire
No. The problem is the same in cities, where desirable areas are much more expensive than other areas. Why do people living in villages believe they should get special treatment simply because they view it as their "right" to be able to live near where they were brought up?
Martin, Coventry, UK
I believe a protectionist policy for rural areas would ultimately act to the long-term detriment of the local communities. Second homers may well be unwelcome, but given the contribution that these people make in terms of local expenditure (not to mention taxes for services rarely used), these sentiments seem more motivated by jealousy than by rational argument. "Local homes for locals" will result in further economic decline and disparity with their urban cousins.
John, UK
Just last week it was announced that the 2001 census results showed that more people than ever before live in the UK's urban areas - 9 out of ten in fact. While some migration to the countryside has inevitably occurred and is contributing to higher rural house prices, it seems to me that the main problem is second home ownership. Higher taxes on second homes in the countryside could release more property onto the market and help to bring down property prices. Why doesn't the government consider doing this before it encourages mass development on green village sites?
Rachel Dalby, Loughborough, England
There is a crisis but the solution is simple - build more homes and don't give unoccupied properties any reduction in council tax. House building would also give those in the whole countryside an income boost.
John Ley, High Wycombe, UK
As a married father of two living in a small village just outside Taunton - I am only too aware of the problems - we are forced to live in a tiny - and I mean a tiny two bed cottage due to the lack of affordable housing. Moving out of the area is not possible as the countryside is my workplace - its even got to the point where I tried to obtain planning consent on a plot of land - But guess what - All the incomers objected
Frank Jasper, Taunton Somerset
This crisis has been coming for a long time. It stems from the fact that the agricultural has been in steady decline and, quite frankly, this is not the 1920's. Rural areas have failed to adapt for decades because they don't want to lose their traditional status. Unfortunately, that lack of progression has meant they've lost it anyway. They only have themselves to blame.
Jack Davenport, Preston, England I can understand the points made by the contributors here and all are valid. Where I can understand particular rural anger is the proliferation of holiday homes; used for maybe two weeks per year and then either let out short term or left idle, when there are local people being priced out of the market. Hopefully the change in the rules to make these second property owners pay a more representative level of council tax may take some of the sting out of it.
Steve, Bedford
My parents live and work in the countryside where there have been problems for several years. Life in rural areas can be tough. Just because these areas are often surrounded by natural beauty it doesn't mean life is rosy. I don't think city people realise this when they move out into the country.
Rob, Liverpool
| Heavily tax those who purchase second houses simply because they can |
This is simply an extension of the house price crisis. Now that the prices in the cities is too high people move further afield for a cheaper house and commute. Now that the country house has reached ridiculous proportions it is little surprise that more and more people, like myself, are forced to live with family/friends or on the street. The solution, heavily tax those who purchase second houses simply because they can.
Stephen, Cardiff
I'm hanging on - just - in subsidised rented accommodation five miles from my home village. However I have very little hope of being able to buy anything within the area. That despite being a graduate with a good 'career for life'. Of the people I went to school with the only ones still around are living with their parents. Almost invariably everyone I talk to has moved in from out of area to take advantage of the schools. When I see the Evening Standard running article encouraging Londoners to move out here I despair even further.
Helen, Bucks
The crisis for both urban and rural areas is caused by absurdly restrictive planning laws. Next time you return from holiday by plane, pay attention to how the supposedly crowded south east is in fact mostly open fields, with everybody hemmed into miniscule pockets of over-priced houses. Yes, the countryside is beautiful, but the current balance between maintaining that and people having somewhere to live is ridiculous. Perhaps if our planners didn't insist on yet more depressing collections of miserable shoe boxes the nimbies would have less of an argument.
Douglas, Milton Keynes, UK More affordable housing for local people would certainly help the situation but why should those who want to enjoy a home in a rural areas and have the means to do it be demonised in this way? No-one ever mentions the huge amount of money these dreadful "city people" bring to the local economy by employing local builders, cleaners, gardeners etc.
Clair Bell, Ashford, Kent
The village I grew up in is out of my price range and new houses are being built that will cost half a million! Law should see affordable housing available to those who need it whenever new building is undertaken in small village communities, particularly if a plot is being sold "with planning permission". People who work and live in the same place are the only way to keep small village life alive, community is far more important than people think and we are losing it from too many places.
Tracey J, Sussex, UK
These things go in cycles. It looks like history is about to repeat itself 15 years after the last house price crash. Then we'll see how attractive the countryside looks to city dwellers when chocolate box cottages are money pits rather than sound investments.
David, UK
This is a classic case where raw capitalism works against local communities, yet those complaining are often the ones who eagerly take the money. When people sell a property they can choose their buyer. If they choose to take the extra money offered by someone who wants a holiday home they contribute to the pricing-out of the local people. The ironic thing is when the same people then complain about the loss of their community spirit, when they themselves sold it to the highest bidder. It's clear to see why people take the extra money but to then complain about the consequences is a bit rich.
John B, UK
It is too easy for people to see buying in the countryside as a lifestyle choice. Its not. When people from the cities want second homes in the countryside, the result of their activities is a devastation of the way the countryside functions. It is not a gimmicky thing to do and people should be made to realise the full consequences of their actions.
Max Richards, Wales
| The countryside needs more local-only cheap housing and taxes on people moving in from the city |
I live in a picturesque little country village, seemingly untouched by the modern world. Except when it comes to house prices. Should I ever want to get a house of my own here, where my family has been for generations, I shall need to win the lottery. The countryside needs more local-only cheap housing and taxes on people moving in from the city or buying holiday homes that sit empty for all but two weeks of the year.
Daniel, Wiltshire, UK We moved from the town to the country four years ago to a house that would not be within the financial grasp of the average local. The biggest issue I see right now is people buying second homes in the village for weekends and holidays. This has a huge impact on the ability for locals to continue to own a property in the town where they live. I can see a revolt on this before long.
Eddy, Rural Hampshire
Local homes for local people. That's the only solution. You should have priority when buying a home in an area you grew up in, maybe with the help of a council grant.
Gavin, Cardiff, Wales
Re: Local homes for local people. Gavin, Cardiff, Wales Cardiff? Shouldn't that be Royston Vasey? As someone said, if those who claim to hold their community so dear chose not to sell their house to the highest bidder there wouldn't be a problem. As for Council grants - maybe Gavin ought to consider that his community has been subsidised for years by taxes paid by those slogging their guts out in London to keep the economy afloat. Does he feel that those who live in the city should never be allowed to enjoy the countryside? Are we to work 45+ hours per week, paying taxes so that he can get a council grant to buy a house yet be barred from ever moving out of the city?
Richard, London
There is a city crisis, so people are forced to leave the over-priced cities and move to the country. They then, because they're probably still working in the city, are better paid than the country people they displace. We end up with a country crisis too. This has all happened because of mad house price increases which this government has encouraged with enthusiasm, and a bank that has done nothing to stop it. So we arrive at the situation we are today. Blame this government and the Bank of England. You reap what you sow.
Nat, London, UK
Wouldn't it be ironic if the same problem spread to Scotland once the Scottish Parliament has introduced its redistributive land grab policy. Formerly locals were protected in so far as their properties belonged to a landlord - will we see them selling up to the Urban pound once they are guaranteed purchase rights?
Jim, UK
One-Minute World News 
News services
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
