A chronic lack of genuinely affordable housing is fuelling a crisis in the countryside. The origin of this crisis is a housing system that sees a home as an investment rather than a human right.
A system that for too long has favoured only big developers, allowing them to plaster over our green spaces with unaffordable executive developments that are driving many to leave the area they grew up in.
Driven by high house prices, stagnating wages and a proliferation of second homes and short-term lets, this crisis is tearing the soul out of rural communities.
At current rates of construction, it would take 93 years for the 300,000 people on social housing waiting lists in rural England to be offered a home. Added to that, in rural areas, levels of homelessness have increased 40% in just five years.
Now, in the run-up to a big general election, we have a major opportunity to shine a light on the rural housing crisis. In our manifesto for the next UK government we call on all political parties to recognise the true value of the countryside and fix the broken housing system for rural communities.
With your help we can secure a political promise for a new generation of affordable homes, linked to local wages, ensuring that everyone has a foundation for a decent life.
Politicians are finally starting to listen, but it’s going to take all of us to win this debate. Will you take a stand with us?