Landowners should be encouraged to build and manage their own affordable housing in the countryside to help solve the housing crisis.
CLA President Ross Murray has said that landowners were keen to build and manage their own affordable housing and were best placed to deliver this because of their economic role within the community. However, he said there are not enough incentives to encourage more landowners to bring sites forward and manage them.
He said, “The capacity of landowners to help alleviate the acute shortage in homes in rural areas is an untapped resource. Many landowners already manage large residential portfolios and affordable housing is a part of that. Landowners have strong multi-generational ties to their communities and are often local employers, they wish to sustain that community for future generations, and long-term investment in affordable housing is an excellent way of doing this.
“However, it is important to recognise that developing market houses for sale is a more profitable enterprise than providing affordable housing to rent so there needs to be a range of incentives to encourage landowners to invest for the longer term.”
Murray added that high house prices in rural areas have a significant impact on the rural economy.
He said, “Job creation is stifled, perpetuating low wages because young people cannot afford to live and work in the countryside. We do not want to build all over our beautiful countryside but we want to see incremental growth in existing villages. This can help sustain local services and stop these areas from becoming dormitory zones for commuters and holiday homes. We want life in our villages – to support young families, local workers and those in the community who are ready to downsize.”
PICTURE CREDIT: lostajy – http://flickr.com/photos/ajy/164896001/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1912734
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