Labour promises commission to boost rural housing

The commission will draw members from the public and private sectors and will look at options to enable local people to get affordable housing, the party’s rural manifesto said.

“It will examine a range of models – such as cooperative ownership or shared equity – to see which work well in a rural setting. We are also keen that they look at the place of government-owned housing stock in rural areas in addressing rural housing need,” the document said.

Mike Muir, chief executive of Impact Housing Association in Cumbria, warned that the manifesto did not address smaller rural communities, which he said were in “terminal decline” because high house prices and low wages did not allow people to get on the property ladder.

“For the big group of people on low wage income who live in high-value areas, there is no model [in the manifesto] that will deliver their aspirations,” he said.

But Anthony Ball, housing strategy and enabling officer at Penwith council, said the proposed ownership schemes might help people priced out of his area.

He said: “A large chunk of people earn around £18,000, whereas the average home in the region is £200,000. Shared ownership is not the only option, but might help in those cases.”

In their rural manifesto, published last month (HT 1 April, page 12), the Conservatives promised to supply more affordable homes in rural areas by extending the exception sites policy, which allows development on sites where it would usually be prohibited.

The Liberal Democrats have also pledged to boost affordable housing in rural areas.

A spokesman for the Rural Housing Trust said Labour’s plans could help some of the 8000 small villages in need of affordable homes.