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Government welcomes Matthew Taylor report
The government has welcomed Matthew Taylor MP’s report into rural economies and affordable housing.
The review, which was commissioned by the Prime Minister, finds that long term under supply of housing in rural areas is holding our rural communities back.
It recommends a new drive to boost rural jobs and community led affordable housing through enterprise hubs, greater home working, neighbourhood extensions to market towns, rural exception sites for local people in villages, and an experimental restriction of second homes in national parks.
Housing Minister Caroline Flint has said that the government agrees with the core principles of the report and will take further measures to boost rural enterprise and affordable housing.
She welcomed specific recommendations to ensure that planning policy on economic development reflects the needs of rural areas, as well as Matthew Taylor's proposal for positive planning to ensure that larger settlements maximise sustainability and design quality.
The government is however yet to be convinced that a restriction of second homes would be either workable or deliver the intended benefits, when there are more innovative ways of providing the affordable housing rural communities need without limiting the rights of second home owners.
Rural Affairs Minister Jonathan Shaw said: “Everyone should have the chance of a decent home at a price they can afford in a place they want to live and work in, and that goes for rural people too.
“The government is committed to rural communities – The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ (DEFRA) £3.9billion investment in rural development in England shows that we want to see businesses, jobs and services in the countryside flourish.”
Ministers will look at the recommendations in detail and give them careful consideration before publishing a full response later in the year.
The government has a national target to deliver 10,300 new affordable homes in smaller rural communities (less than 3,000) over the next three years.
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