Lords decry rural housing crisis

The House of Commons may have broken up for the summer but the House of Lords has another week before its recess, and on Monday 24 July held a debate on rural and coastal housing led by the Lord Bishop of Exeter.

The Bishop, responsible for a large rural diocese with two coastlines, highlighted the escalating housing crisis in rural and coastal communities across England. He emphasised the problems of affordability caused by a chronic housing shortage, particularly affecting those with lower incomes. He noted the impact of second home ownership, holiday rentals and Airbnb lettings, which worsen the situation in tourist hotspots. The consequences affect education, employment, and health.

Rural areas, he said, face escalating demand for social housing while homelessness and rough sleeping rates rise. However, he praised practical responses from landowners, local authorities, and charities, including the Church of England's efforts to promote truly affordable homes using its land assets. Later, Lord Best (Crossbench) praised the Government for funding rural housing enablers who liaise with groups with land interests to secure small parcels of land for affordable housing development. The Bishop concluded by calling for cross-departmental cooperation and a coherent long-term strategy to address the housing crisis.

Baroness Warwick of Undercliffe (Lab) expressed frustration at the repeated debates on the housing crisis, highlighting the failure to build enough affordable and social homes. She argued that the crisis is particularly acute in rural and coastal areas, with a 4 million home shortfall. Lord Teverson (Lib Dem) outlined the impact of rural housing shortages on the NHS, which finds itself unable to fill vacancies because incomers find house prices unaffordable, yet as the Earl of Devon (Crossbench) later agreed the Government’s housebuilding efforts are entirely focused on cities.

Lord Cameron of Dillington (Crossbench) underscored the social impacts of housing shortages and raised disincentives on landlords to keep properties available to rent, while government targets on housebuilding for sale are never met. He argued for an expansion of council housing, on which Lord Davies of Brixton (Lab) argued the right to buy had had a destructive effect.

Responding on behalf of the Government, Baroness Swinburn acknowledged the challenges faced by rural and coastal regions, including limited availability of affordable homes and barriers to home ownership. She stressed its commitment to delivering more affordable and green housing, as part of the mission to level up growth and opportunity in the UK.

She highlighted progress in delivering new homes, including over 60,000 in rural areas last year, and the ambition to deliver 300,000 new homes annually across England. The affordable homes program and the rural exception sites policy seek to address specific challenges in these areas, with measures also being taken to regulate second homes and short-term lets. 

Baroness Swinburn addressed questions raised by other peers, including on biodiversity net gain, evictions and infrastructure funding. She assured the House that the Government is working on planning reforms and consulting on how best to support rural and coastal communities. It remains committed, she said, to improving access to affordable homes and fostering strong, sustainable communities in these regions.