Housing an issue in our villages

Written by David Heath MP and published in Frome Standard on Thu 13th Sep 2007

By the end of this week, I will have completed my village tour, visiting just over a hundred villages over two weeks. It's been a relatively quiet year so far, and I'm never sure whether that demonstrates contentedness or apathy. Sometimes it betrays nothing more than the failure or disinclination of a parish clerk to put the notice up on the village notice board!

One issue often raised is the lack of affordable housing in our villages, the inevitable result in the inexorable rise in house prices in Somerset without a concomitant increase in average wage. In fact, the ratio between house prices and earnings, the so-called gearing, is greater here than anywhere else in the country. The result is that our children have no chance of buying into their own community, and the sale of council housing without providing replacements has made matters worse.

Many parish councils are seeking to identify pockets of land to build at least a handful of houses which can be available for rent or part ownership schemes. It needs a bit of give and take by planners, developers and neighbours to make it work, but it's very necessary. No-one wants to see massive estates entirely changing the character of rural villages, but nor should we want our villages to become museum pieces or retirement homes with no opportunity for the next generation to find a home.