The Rural Housing Trust has called on the government to produce a rural Communities Plan.
The trust believes the present plan does not adequately provide for the countryside.

Speaking at the Chartered Institute for Housing's South-east conference last Wednesday, the trust's chief executive, Moira Constable, said what she called "rural-proofing" was a "politically correct add-on". She said almost everything in the plan needed to be rethought if it was to help rural communities.

"We need a rural approach that doesn't have quotas," she said. "There aren't large-scale developments or cross-subsidy opportunities in small villages."

Constable demanded more dedicated funding for rural areas, which cannot use money from private developers.

A spokeswoman for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister said targets for housing associations to build affordable homes in rural settlements had been increased in the 2000 Rural White Paper.

Source

Housing Today