Report paints polarised picture of rural England

The report claims that 1.6 million rural people are in relative poverty and in the poorest fifth of rural households, half of weekly income goes on food and fuel compared to 39 per cent in the highest income households.

The State of the Countryside 2008 report, the tenth in the series, painted a polarised picture of rural England and a growing inequality.

Dr Stuart Burgess, chairman of the CRC said: “Over the last year there has been a rise in rural households living in poverty. The data shows that between 2004/05 and 2006/07 poverty is increasing faster in rural households than urban households - by 3 per cent compared with 1 per cent.”

However the report found that people in rural areas generally enjoyed a healthier lifestyle and a better quality of life than in urban areas and it highlighted a renewed sense of optimism amongst farmers.

“There have been distinct changes in farming over the last ten years with a sharp fall in un-cropped land that was previously set-aside and fallow, this is mainly due to increase in crop prices,” said Dr Burgess.

The value of agricultural land rose sharply during 2007, mainly due to increases in the prices of agricultural commodities and to high demand for land for ‘lifestyle’ rural properties, he said.

One of the biggest challenges for rural dwellers was finding affordable housing.

The report found that housing affordability continues to be worse in rural areas - in 2007 the average rural house price was £257,600 compared with £212,823 in urban areas, with rural house prices 6.8 times annual household income, compared to 5.8 times in urban areas.

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