We are urgently developing research requirements with other European laboratories to make sure we understand and the disease (Schmallenberg) better.First time buyers being forced out of the countryside
MPs have called on the Government to take urgent action to increase the provision of affordable rural housing in the UK, warning people on middle and low incomes are being ‘squeezed out’ of the countryside.
In a debate in Westminster Hall last week, MPs called for increased investment from Ministers as well as changes to the tax and banking systems to make it easier for first time buyers in rural Britain.
Liberal Democrat rural affairs spokesman, Tim Farron, hit out at ‘excessive second home ownership’, which has left thousands of rural properties empty for much of the year while the waiting list for social housing continues to grow.
Rural housing lists are now stand at a record high of 750,000 and a report earlier this year from the National Housing Federation said rural residents are likely to face a wait their lifetime before property becomes available.
Mr Farron said: “It is an outrageous tragedy that local families should be forced out of the community in which they grew up simply because the two-up, two-down cottage in the village is sold for an inflated price to a Mancunian barrister, a London banker or, as happened on one recent occasion, a Government Minister.
“It is not that I have anything against such people, but when someone’s right to a second home compromises someone else’s right to buy a first, I know on whose side I am.”
Ceredigion MP Mark Williams warned the rise in second homes would lead to rural communities becoming ‘seasonal service providers’ where banks, shops and post offices would close.
At present, second homes are subject to a 50 per cent reduction in council tax, although Government has granted local authorities the power to reduce the discount to as low as 10 per cent.
Mr Farron called on the Government to encourage more councils to take advantage of the provisions and plough the extra money into more affordable housing in rural areas.
MPs also criticised the Government for failing to meet its target of 2,800 affordable homes in rural areas for 2009/10.
Parliamentary under-secretary of state for communities and local government, Barbara Follett said the targets had had to be scaled back as a result of the recession, assuring MPs affordable housing was a priority within Government.
She said: “Rural housing and housing as a whole are high on the Government’s agenda.
“Sadly, the target of the Housing Corporation, originally for 10,300 affordable homes to be delivered in small rural settlements between 2008 and 2011, has had to be reduced to 8,500, due to market conditions. That target, however, is an ambition, not a limit.”