This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2013/jun/23/the-big-issue-affordable-housing
The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Previous version
1
Next version
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Rural towns will die unless we tackle the housing problem | Rural towns will die unless we tackle the housing problem |
| (3 months later) | |
| I've lived in rural Suffolk for the whole of my 70 years and Uckfield is simply an extreme example of what is happening to rural southern England as a whole. ("Rural towns with no young people? Under 45s can't afford to live there"). | I've lived in rural Suffolk for the whole of my 70 years and Uckfield is simply an extreme example of what is happening to rural southern England as a whole. ("Rural towns with no young people? Under 45s can't afford to live there"). |
| London salaries and house prices, which bear no relation to those outside the M25, mean that most houses priced above the very basic tiny boxes in those towns where building is permitted are snapped up by commuters. | London salaries and house prices, which bear no relation to those outside the M25, mean that most houses priced above the very basic tiny boxes in those towns where building is permitted are snapped up by commuters. |
| Our smaller villages have become retirement communities for metropolitan pensioners to live out their idea of a rural idyll. True rural life, which can be vibrant and productive, is smothered by a Conservative local government hegemony pandering to all the misguided prejudices of the newly created nimby majority. They don't want wind turbines, they don't want solar farms. In fact, they don't want anything that's going to bring real life back to these areas. | Our smaller villages have become retirement communities for metropolitan pensioners to live out their idea of a rural idyll. True rural life, which can be vibrant and productive, is smothered by a Conservative local government hegemony pandering to all the misguided prejudices of the newly created nimby majority. They don't want wind turbines, they don't want solar farms. In fact, they don't want anything that's going to bring real life back to these areas. |
| Rural high-speed broadband is desperately needed to boost businesses of all sizes but yesterday's local daily paper had reports that the local CPRE (that's the campaign for the protection of a rural England that never existed) is planning a campaign against "unsightly telephone cabinets and cabling that providing such a service would bring". I despair. | Rural high-speed broadband is desperately needed to boost businesses of all sizes but yesterday's local daily paper had reports that the local CPRE (that's the campaign for the protection of a rural England that never existed) is planning a campaign against "unsightly telephone cabinets and cabling that providing such a service would bring". I despair. |
| David Mitchell | David Mitchell |
| Stowmarket | Stowmarket |
| Not everyone is a pensioner in Uckfield, as your report intimated. Friday and Saturday nights, at least in one spot, are like weekends anywhere when young people have had too much to drink – and some of the lingerie in window displays is certainly not for the average grey top. In fact, of the five towns in Wealden district, Uckfield has the most young people. | Not everyone is a pensioner in Uckfield, as your report intimated. Friday and Saturday nights, at least in one spot, are like weekends anywhere when young people have had too much to drink – and some of the lingerie in window displays is certainly not for the average grey top. In fact, of the five towns in Wealden district, Uckfield has the most young people. |
| But your reporter is right about the lack of affordable housing. Young adults are staying with their parents because they simply cannot afford to buy locally. This is obviously of social concern in the longer term. | But your reporter is right about the lack of affordable housing. Young adults are staying with their parents because they simply cannot afford to buy locally. This is obviously of social concern in the longer term. |
| One thousand new dwellings are to be built to the west of the town (on a green field site) and of these somewhere in the region of 35% are earmarked for social housing. But when will these affordable houses actually be built? Construction companies do not like building them because they make less profit than they do for four- or five-bedroom houses. And, wow, are there a lot of those in Uckfield. | One thousand new dwellings are to be built to the west of the town (on a green field site) and of these somewhere in the region of 35% are earmarked for social housing. But when will these affordable houses actually be built? Construction companies do not like building them because they make less profit than they do for four- or five-bedroom houses. And, wow, are there a lot of those in Uckfield. |
| Young people born in the town cannot find houses they can afford and there is a waiting list for social housing, most of which has yet to be built | Young people born in the town cannot find houses they can afford and there is a waiting list for social housing, most of which has yet to be built |
| Councillor Alan Whittaker | Councillor Alan Whittaker |
| Liberal Democrats | Liberal Democrats |
| Uckfield town council | Uckfield town council |
| It's about time that nimbys realised that by preventing necessary building of affordable homes in the countryside, they are consigning their communities and their children to an urban exodus. With the number of over-65s in rural areas rising "2.5 times faster than in towns and cities", it is totally unsustainable and flies in the face of the government's own national planning policy framework, which, allegedly, is all about the creation of sustainable communities. | It's about time that nimbys realised that by preventing necessary building of affordable homes in the countryside, they are consigning their communities and their children to an urban exodus. With the number of over-65s in rural areas rising "2.5 times faster than in towns and cities", it is totally unsustainable and flies in the face of the government's own national planning policy framework, which, allegedly, is all about the creation of sustainable communities. |
| Vibrant villages – complete with pub, shop and school – that so many love to visit are rapidly becoming a sepia caricature of themselves. More affordable homes for needy local people are required, otherwise our villages will continue down the path of becoming glorified old people's homes. Furthermore, "lack of housing means that more people want to rent, pushing up demand and prices", but with student debt typically running to more than £50,000 after graduation, rural house-buying is out of the question for many young people. | Vibrant villages – complete with pub, shop and school – that so many love to visit are rapidly becoming a sepia caricature of themselves. More affordable homes for needy local people are required, otherwise our villages will continue down the path of becoming glorified old people's homes. Furthermore, "lack of housing means that more people want to rent, pushing up demand and prices", but with student debt typically running to more than £50,000 after graduation, rural house-buying is out of the question for many young people. |
| James Derounian | James Derounian |
| Principal lecturer, community engagement and governance | Principal lecturer, community engagement and governance |
| University of Gloucestershire | University of Gloucestershire |
| THE BIG ISSUE HOMES | THE BIG ISSUE HOMES |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |
Previous version
1
Next version