MONDAY 1PM: A lack of affordable housing in rural Leicestershire was brought in the spotlight this week as the Government's Rural Advocate delivered his second report to the Prime Minister.
Dr Stuart Burgess said while rural life can offer great advanatges and there are many examples of real community spirit he also witnessed people in real hardship, struggling to get by.
He said there were more than 928,000 rural households living b
elow the official Government poverty threshold of £16,492 household income per annum and called for imaginative solutions to tackle this 'hidden poverty'.
Dr Burgess added: "The lack of affordable homes to rent and to buy continues to be the single biggest issue with growing numbers of people not qualifying for social housing but not earning enough to afford to buy a house either."
Demographic changes, which mean there are now nearly 400,000 fewer young people aged 15 to 29 in rural areas then there were 20 years ago, and the loss of key services such as post offices also presented real challenges while farming was badly affected in 2007 by flooding and incidents of animal disease.
The report details the current cost of housing in the area. The average price of a house in Melton is £210,425 but £289,139 in rural Melton borough.
The average price of rural housing in Charnwood is £214,418, in Rushcliffe it is £210,490 and in Rutland £238,781.
The full article contains 244 words and appears in Melton Times newspaper.
