WITNEY LIB DEMS WELCOME RURAL HOUSING REPORT

Witney Liberal Democrats have welcomed a new report setting out how more can be done to provide affordable homes and a vibrant economy in the English countryside.

The report, ‘Living Working Countryside’, was commissioned by the Government and produced by Liberal Democrat MP Matthew Taylor, who has been a prominent campaigner on rural housing issues for many years.

There is a real shortage of affordable housing across the country, but the shortage is at its worst in rural areas like West Oxfordshire. Houses in rural areas are more expensive than in bigger towns and cities but average salaries are lower. This means it is particularly difficult for first-time buyers to get their foot on the first rung of the housing ladder here. Young local families are being priced out of their own communities.

There is a real problem with second homes dominating some parts of the country. We should look at requiring planning permission for second homes in areas where this is a particular problem.

The Taylor Review is right to look at how we can create more jobs in rural areas. Without jobs more and more of our countryside will become a zone of just second homes and retirement cottages. Small businesses should be encouraged in the countryside and we should make the planning system more flexible to enable this - particularly when it comes to work-based extensions to homes. The report is also right to propose that housing associations should end their ban on people setting up home-based businesses in their properties.

There is a lot more the Government could do to deliver more affordable rural housing. Unused land owned by the Government and other public sector bodies should be used for building affordable housing. And we need much more action from the Government to bring empty homes back into use.

This is an important report. But there has been no shortage of excellent reports on housing issues over the last few years. What we need now is government action.