Commenting on today's Budget
announcement, CPRE chief executive Roger Mortlock
said:
“Rural England has suffered from
chronic underinvestment for many years, yet research by the Rural
Coalition1
demonstrates the transformative
potential of our rural economy. With the right policy framework
and investment, the countryside could contribute an additional £9
billion to £19 billion annually in tax
revenue.”
On housing
“We are delighted that the chancellor
has set a budget of £3.1 billion to deliver affordable housing.
So-called ‘affordable' housing is often far beyond the means of
most people, however. Affordability should be defined in line
with average local incomes, rather than as 80% of market value,
as is currently the case. When the average price of a house in
rural England is more than 16 times the average rural salary,
so-called ‘affordable' homes are often anything but.
“£3bn of support and guarantees for
small housebuilders is excellent news for an industry that is
dominated by a few profit-hungry giants. Our research with the
Federation of Master Builders has shown that, while big
developers keep profits high, small- and medium-sized
housebuilders can help to bring more genuinely affordable homes
on to the market.
At current rates of construction, it
would take almost a century to clear social housing waiting lists
in rural parts of the country. Investing money from Right-to-Buy
in more social housing is a welcome step in the right
direction.”
On departmental budget
cuts
“We recognise that the government
needs to balance its books. However, slashing Defra's budget puts
previously protected support for farmers at risk, while changing
Agricultural Property relief could put farm businesses at risk.
This is counter intuitive when the country faces both climate and
nature crises. Farmers could be the heroes of a countryside that
delivers climate and nature solutions for the nation – but they
need to be paid to do so.”
On the bus fare price cap
increase
“The increased bus fare cap will see
rural bus users paying higher fares for dwindling services,
further driving rural inequality and harming our efforts to reach
net zero by 2030. Outside towns and cities, people who can't
afford a car face social isolation as well as reduced access to
education and work. Money raised by the fare cap increase should
be invested in our crumbling rural public transport
networks.”
ENDS
-
Rural Coalition
research
