'More needs to be done' to provide rural homes as demand soars
More needs to be done to provide affordable rural homes in Shropshire, a housing association boss has said.
Rural Housing Week has highlighted the challenge of meeting the national housing crisis, with campaigners calling on the government to “level up” rural and urban areas.
John Green, chief executive of Shropshire Rural Housing Association, said figures released during Rural Housing Week made the issues very clear.
He said: “According to research carried out by English Rural Housing Association, one of the leading national voices on rural housing, demand has increased by 61 per cent in rural areas like Shropshire since the Covid pandemic.
“But crucially, 36 per cent more affordable homes are built in urban areas, meaning that supply in rural areas is continuously lagging behind demand.
“The key theme of this year’s Rural Housing Week has been levelling up - encouraging the Government to stimulate more affordable housing programmes in rural areas.
“We have been pleased to move tenants into a number of new schemes in Nesscliffe and Preston-upon-the-Weald Moors, in Telford, recently, but we are acutely aware that more affordable housing is desperately needed in Shropshire.
“At a time of such economic uncertainty and concern, campaigns like Rural Housing Week are vital to ensure the needs of our rural communities are not forgotten.”
