Sharp increase in rural renting piles pressure on councils amid call for new housing plan

Almost half of the newly rented properties were in the South East and East of England, suggesting a growing number of people have chosen to move out of London.

Richard Clewer, housing and planning spokesperson at the County Councils Network, said: “It is widely accepted that the housing crisis is one that is worsening, with rising unaffordability locking hundreds of thousands out of getting on to the property ladder.

“This new data reveals the impact of this in rural and county areas, with the rise in people renting in these places outpacing even London and the major cities, while homeownership rates have gone into decline.”

Almost 200,000 fewer households purchased a property in county areas over the past 10 years. This coincides with the average house price outside London rising to £309,000, now 11.1 times higher than average annual wages.

The County Councils Network said the rise in renting, combined with rising house prices, has caused waiting lists for rural social housing to grow by 10% since 2018, an increase of 40,000 households.

Temporary accommodation use has risen by 52% over the same five-year period, while homelessness has increased by 18% over the past three years.

The report found that planning authorities are in need of more funding to speed up decision-making, and called on the government to make progress on getting the long-awaited Renters (Reform) Bill through parliament.

It also called for a review of the Right to Buy policy, as well as a broader plan to improve what Mr Clewer called “a planning system that has been in a state of flux for a long time”.

A government spokesperson said: “We are committed to creating a fair housing system that works for everyone in both urban and rural areas, including increasing first-time buyer numbers in all regions and boosting availability of new, genuinely affordable housing.

“Our long-term plan for housing will go even further to build the homes that local communities want and need, backed by £10bn to boost supply and £11.5bn for affordable homes. 

“The landmark Renters (Reform) Bill is also progressing through parliament. The bill will deliver a fairer private rented sector for both responsible tenants and good faith landlords.”

At the end of last year, research by countryside charity CPRE found that house prices in the countryside increased at nearly twice the rate of those in urban areas in the five years to 2022. These prices were found to be driving a 40% increase in often hidden rural homelessness.

Additional research by the English Rural Housing Association and UCL found that an increase in rural homes can be delivered alongside maintaining a community’s local character.

The report called for communities to embrace the rural exception cite planning policy to enable a significant increase in the delivery of affordable homes in the English countryside.