Across the South West services and businesses have been disappearing as people are priced out of housing in their local community. New analysis of the latest data reveals that 7 schools, 5435 post offices and 217 pubs have closed down in the region over the last five years, according to the National Housing Federation.1
Whilst businesses have been closing, house prices have hugely inflated in the area and become out of reach for local families. A worker on average earnings in rural Devon needs a 155% pay rise to be able to afford a mortgage with workers in the South Hams requiring a 203% rise.2
Due to the disparity between house prices and earnings, many young people today who live in rural Devon have no chance of getting onto the housing ladder. Private rental properties are also extremely expensive and scarce in many rural areas, meaning that young people cannot afford to move out of their family home and live independently. In addition, older people who wish to downsize into a smaller, cheaper, more manageable property cannot find suitable accommodation so these households have to leave the community they have grown up or settled in and move away to find a home they can afford and that meets their needs.
Devon Communities Together (DCT) is a member of the Devon Rural Housing Partnership (DRHP), a partnership of 7 local authorities and 8 housing associations who are working across rural Devon to provide good quality, affordable homes for sale and rent. DCT hosts the Rural Housing Team who assist partners in identifying housing need, help to identify suitable sites and help with community engagement.
The DRHP is joining MPs and housing associations up and down the country for Rural Housing Week (2-6 July), which aims to shine a light on how affordable housing can breathe life into rural communities, by bringing new customers and job opportunities that help keep open local shops, schools or pubs that residents rely on. During the week we will be holding training on Devon Home Choice, publicising events held by our partners, visiting Cheriton Bishop where a development of 9 affordable homes is on site and using social media to highlight and publicise rural housing in Devon.
Monica Burns, External Affairs Manager for rural housing at the National Housing Federation, says:
“Today’s findings show that far too few homes are being built for local people and villages are dying as a result. Young people are moving to cities and often house prices are rocketing. Right across rural England, schools are shutting their doors to pupils. Post offices, which provide vital community services, are closing at a similar rate and countless pubs are serving their last ever orders to locals.
“It’s therefore very welcome news that organisations like Devon Communities Together and the Devon Rural Housing Partnership are stemming this tide in Devon by building the new homes local people desperately need.”