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Housing watchdog warns rural Shropshire life is dying
Sunday 17th October 2010, 6:00PM BST.
Traditional village life is dying in rural Shropshire – and action plans need to be drawn up to build more affordable homes if it is to be saved, a housing watchdog has said.
The National Housing Federation said local schools, shops and pubs were disappearing from rural landscapes at an alarming rate. Regional spokesman Dawn Cummins called on county local authorities to draw up immediate plans.
She said unless more affordable homes were built young people would continue to be priced out – and key services would disappear with them.
“Families from across Shropshire face the decline of local village life due to a chronic shortage of affordable housing in rural England,” she added.
“The National Housing Federation is calling for urgent action to be taken to halt the demise of the countryside, as the cornerstones of traditional village life, such as the local school, the shop and the pub, are disappearing from the rural landscape at an alarming rate.”
She added: “There is an ever declining demand for services in villages where local families have been priced out of the area by wealthy commuters, pensioners and second home owners, as well as the negative impact of too few new homes having been built.”
Mrs Cummins said the number of people on waiting lists for affordable homes in rural England had rocketed to 750,000 – and warned that figure was likely to increase further with not enough new properties being built.
She said a recent report published by the National Housing Federation – Home Truths 2010 – showed the country was in the midst of its worst housing crisis for generations.
The Federation, which represents England’s housing associations, estimates about 100,000 new affordable homes need to be built in England alone to meet demand in rural areas over the next 10 years.
Mrs Cummins added: “The Federation is so concerned that it is calling upon local authorities in rural areas to draw up action plans to address the housing needs of their communities.
“Affordable housing lies at the centre of the battle to save traditional village life.
“Unless we build more affordable homes for local people, they will continue to be priced out of rural areas and services they support will vanish with them.”
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Traditional village life is a thing of the past. Pubs are closing because the average population of a village does not yield enough customers to make them viable. Added to this is the non-smoking policy, and the fact that you can buy your drinks from the likes of booze buster and Tesco at a fraction of the price.
Village shops have the same problem, the big supermarkets just undercut them so heavily that they cannot sell their stock.
Then you have the employment issue. There are no jobs in a village so you have to travel. If a household has two working partners then they will probably need two cars, not a small investment today. So, people are looking for accommodation in, or very near to, one of the bigger towns.
I am sure we have all seen what ” cheaper houses” look like, Row upon row of cardboard boxes. The material cost involved in house building is astronomical, as is the labour involved. Such houses would hardly attract buyers, and I doubt very much if the locals would welcome them being sited next to their expensive properties.
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I agree with your valid points to a cetain extent Colin. However, there is a need for social housing and/or affordable housing if local people are to breathe new life into rural towns and villages.
I am sure people were aghast when the social housing building of the 1950′s and their uniform structures were built near to the more expensive properties, but they have now integrated into their local town or village, so why can’t the new houses/apartments achive the same thing? Unless the local people are snobs and don’t look at the bigger picture which may affect their social standing.
What the older generations need to realise is that they are getting “older” and they need to do more for younger families with more forward thinking.
The last thing Shropshire’s rural towns and villages need is the NIMBY brigade banging the same old drum. After all, once they have died what legacy will they leave, a ghost town/village full of unaffordable housing and empty properties, empty shops and no soul?
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Developments need to be mixed affordable for out right purchase at discounted price on condition they can,t be sold for a large profit in the future also stop them being purchased by buy to let land lords, another problem we have in villages, we also need shared, and rental properties priority given to the children of the villages first not . I do not think we have a reason (ie house shortage) to go down the road of building council houses estates those days are long gone . We also need to look at stopping allocations to immigrants and young single parents . We also need as a country to adopt some EU laws with regards tenants tenure etc . Clearly over the next five years many home owners will be thrown in to the rental market so we need rentals capped by local councils in the private sector.
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I do not think traditional village life is all a thing of the past. Granted we have moved on from the village shop,and the days of people propping up the village pub bar are long gone . And most of us have moved on from the straw chewing hog roast in the village hall. The jobs issue is a non issue we all expect to travel to work via car or public transport many who live in towns have to travel to other towns or cities for work etc .
Village life is not for the old and wealthy, more affordable homes need to be built in all villages with priority given to children of village residents many who wish to remain in the village .The views of the retired individual who has moved to the area should of course be taken on board but we need to remember these people have contributed nothing to the village or village life what so ever and probably never will.What I also believe will happen is the old and retired will soon realise village life is not for them as you have stated the amenities are going and one thing the old depend on is good access to a GP etc, so eventually villages will be in 30 -40 years time the place of the wealthy .
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