Rural areas held back by housing and infrastructure woes, report warns

Image source, Getty Images

A lack of affordable housing, supermarket price-wars, poor public transport and broadband connections are holding back the rural economy according to a new report.

The cross-party group of MPs and peers found that the rural economy was 18% less productive than the national average. If the gap was reduced, it would add $43 billion to the UK economy.

The report was welcomed by the government and it was giving 2.6 billion to rural areas.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group heard evidence from over 50 rural groups.

The co-chairman of the APPG said that it was vital that the government understood that rural Britain was not a museum.

There was evidence that there were systemic failures in the government's rural policy development.

Mark Tufnell, president of the Country Land and Business Association, said that the country can no longer ignore the potential of the rural economy and the prospects of the millions of people who live within it. Rural businesses are ready to expand, creating good jobs and opportunities for people from all walks of life, but a lack of interest from government is holding them back.

The planning system was one of many factors highlighted in the wide-ranging report.

According to the report, houses in Cornwall are nine times the average wage in England and prices are being pushed up because of Covid.

According to the report, the definition of affordable housing was misleading, with new homes often out of reach for local people and small-scale housing developments routinely rejected.

Ensuring housing was within the reach of local people would allow them to live where they worked, keeping money in the community.

The need for economic growth in rural areas was referred to in the report, with an emphasis placed on affordable housing.

The report said that poor public transport and urban-centered policymaking was reducing the opportunities for young people and leading to a brain drain.

Ring-fencing funding for rural communities is what it called for.

The report said that trade deals were putting UK farming standards at risk and that supply chains had been affected by the impact of Covid-19.

It called for the influence of major supermarkets to be limited and for the Seasonal Workers Pilot scheme to be expanded.

Image source, Getty Images

Poor digital infrastructure in rural areas is highlighted in the report. A study showed that only half of rural areas had good 4G, and that services were harder to access, and fewer businesses were choosing to relocate to the countryside.

The tax system should be adapted to encourage regeneration.

Rural Affairs Minister, Richard Benyon, responded.

This report and its recommendations are welcome. I want businesses and people in remote areas to do the same as those in inner cities in our vision for levelling up.

We are providing funding to put in place the infrastructure that rural areas need, and the public services and opportunities that they deserve. We have already announced over 2.6 billion via the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, and we will be saying more about rural funding soon.