Key Rural Housing Problems - Essay Example

Title: What are the key rural housing problems? Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code and Name: Institution: Date Assignment is due: Key Rural Housing Problems Rural communities in the UK encounter a unique combination of housing problems. The current trend of inward rural migration has birthed a housing crisis. This is because commuters, owners of second and holiday homes and retirees flock to the rural areas. This has led to increases in housing prices all over the rural areas. The stock of rural housing has been reduced by the right to buy ordinance. Very few houses have been built to replace those that have been sold over the years. This has caused an unrecorded housing crisis in the rural areas. This is because the housing shortage is acute. In fact, the only place in the whole country that has a graver housing problem is London (Satsangi 2008, pp.51). One of the problems that are central to rural housing is rural–in migration. This internal migration has done much to increase the prices of houses in the country side (Boyle 2000, pp.756). In fact, internal migration has pushed rural house prices above the national average. Houses in rural areas have been upped due to this migration, for example, in 2007, a house in the rural areas was selling at twice the price of an urban house. Wages are lower in the rural areas than in the urban areas. Studies post that the wages in the rural areas are lower by seven thousand pounds compared to wages in the urban areas. The combination of expensive homes and low income makes it almost impossible for rural folks to afford houses (Boyle 2000, pp.756). The migratory trend does not look like it is going to change. Although there are some people leaving the rural areas, this movement cannot balance the number of people who are coming into the rural areas. The people who leave the rural areas are few compared to the people who are coming into the country side (Haughton & Counsell 2004, pp.138). The people who are leaving the rural areas include students out for studies and also young men in search of work in the urban areas. The people getting into the rural areas are much more compared to those who are getting out of the rural areas. The people coming in include those who have had a significant increase in their finances, retirees and those out to their holiday homes in the rural areas(Bannon & Russell1999, pp.113). UK is seeing a reversal of the urban migration that was rampart in the 18th and 19th centuries. Most people in the UK now prefer to live in the rural areas. Changes in climate have pushed people to reconsider relocating to the rural areas. Most of those who move into rural areas quote the fresh and clean air in the rural areas. They claim that the urban cities are polluted. As they move to the rural areas, they create housing problems for rural folks (Bannon & Russell 1999, pp.113). The problem of housing in rural areas is compounded by the emergency of overseas migration. Migrations from overseas have been on the rise in the UK.The immigrants’ settle in both the towns and the rural areas. In 2006/7 and 2002/3, the rate of increase in the rural areas was 186%. In some rural districts, the rate was much higher compared to urban districts coming close to 231%. This has increased the demand on houses in the rural areas. Rural authorities report being stressed on the provision of resources like houses, translation and other services. The majority of the migrants are from countries that have just joined the European Union. Other migrants are from the Indian subcontinent and the Asian continent as a whole (Bannon &Russell 1999, pp.113). The housing crisis in rural UK is exacerbated by the fact that there has been a dearth in speculative building, in the rural areas. Investors have been investing in the towns. The country side rarely sees new buildings coming up (Satsangi 2008, pp.51). Most businessmen and women do not want to build residential houses in the rural areas. Most prefer to build commercial and residential houses in the towns and cities. They claim that the towns and cities are more profitable. This culture of building only in the towns and cities has effectively emasculated rural housing initiatives (A Bord Pleanala 2002, pp.143). Without any new buildings coming up, the rural areas are in extreme problems ,in the area of housing. Speculators claim that it is against business acumen to build and invest in the rural areas. They claim that the profit margin is too little to warrant any rural investment. To invest in rural areas is suicidal for them because the majority of rural folks are poor. This means that to build houses, one has to build establishments that are substandard. This is because the poor cannot afford to pay for houses that meet market standards. Understandably, no one with business acumen is going to indulge in such investments (An Bord Pleanala 2002, pp.143). The problem is complicated by the fact that the government does not offer any unique incentives to investors who want to invest in the rural areas. As the number, of people continues to increase, the housing problem continues to spiral out of control. The old buildings can no longer hold the populations in the rural areas. Goverment tax discounts do not do much to attract people to invest in the rural areas. The only buildings that come up are those owned by super rich immigrants from the towns and cities. As the paper is going to show, even the building of these houses is subjected to a lot of pressures (An Bord Pleanala 2002, pp.143). These pressures stem from the land allocation committees and local government red tape. This is while the housing scenario continues to pinch the rural dweller across the United Kingdom rural landscape. Homelessness is on the rise (Haughton and Counsell 2004, pp.138). Rural housing faces many challenges that mitigate its responsiveness to changes in demand. One of these challenges is access to building land. Land is plentiful in the rural areas, but the problem is buying the land. This is because the local monopolies that control it are not given to selling their land (Bannon 2004, pp.87). They have been frustrating the efforts of developers who desire to invest in the region. The local landowners do not particularly like selling land to outsiders. Pride that is legendary in the UK prevents many landowners from selling their land. This has exacerbated the housing problem in the rural areas (Boyle 2000, pp.756). The land is available, but it is untouchable. To make the matter worse, there is legislation that can force the landowners to sell their land. The situation assumes a melodramatic irony considering that most idle land is in the rural areas. The places that have these massive chunks of land lying idle have the worst housing problems (Bannon 2004, pp.87). The problems that besiege the housing sector in rural UK are correlated. They are all interconnected. One problem leads to another. The stagnation in the housing development that has contributed to the current housing problems is tied to many factors. This is because that housing crisis is tied to government planning way back in the 1960s. In the 1990s, the government has been in favour of town expansion. The government has poured billions of dollars into what commenter’s have termed town cramming. Towns and cities have expanded at the expense of the rural areas. This means that, literally speaking, the government has neglected rural housing. This has resulted in the housing crisis over the whole country. Also, related to the government, another problem that has been central to the issue of rural housing is the government policy on planning. The government is guilty in producing planning policy models that are inappropriate in dealing with the problem of rural housing. Government policies as been to concentrate housing initiatives in the main population centers like towns.the sparsely populated areas have been left behind. These include rural areas and some sparsely concentrated towns also in the country site (Brunt 1988, pp.174).The saddening observation is that there seems to be no reversal in these policy models. The government is not doing much to reverse policy models it set decades ago that have proved to be the undoing in the rural housing scenario (Brunt 1988, pp.174). The problem of poverty in the rural areas is central to the issue of rural housing in the UK. As the paper observes elsewhere, the majority of rural folks are poor. The wages earned in the rural areas are relatively lower than those that are earned in the urban areas. Most people who grow up in the rural districts leave the areas to go and kook for work (Satsangi 2007, pp.37). By the time, they are able to make a significant income to invest back in their villages, it is too late. What the paper is saying is that the rural folks are too poor to out up housing units. This is compounded by the fact that they cannot even afford the existing units. The acquisition of second homes in most rural areas is extremely easy. This is because most local councils give tax discounts .The tax discounts’ are up to 50% in most cases. This encourages people who already have homes to come and buy homes in the rural areas. They take up the available homes. This leaves the rural dwellers with no homes .They can not buy homes in the market because most are incredibly expensive for them. The people who buy second homes in the rural places, up the prices and make local guys unable to buy homes in their own neighborhoods (HBOS 2008, pp.24). Another problem that afflicts rural housing is a problem created by local land allocation committees. The local land allocation committees engage in excessive vetting. Most outsiders who want to buy land and build are turned down. This means that people from outside most rural communities cannot invest in housing, in the rural places. This, in effect, means that no new buildings come up. Those that manage to come up are bought exceptionally fast by second- home owners. The problem of housing then increases (HBOS 2008, pp.24). Another key problem in rural UK especially in England is the issue of affordability for the first- time buyers. This problem is particularly pressing in England. The other places like Wales and Scotland are also affected by the problem. In rural UK, housing units are twice as expensive in the rural areas than in the urban areas. First time buyers are thus restricted by prices and they cannot buy their own houses, for example, in the urban centers, a house is worthy 8,000 pounds. In the rural areas, the same house sells for at least 16,000 pounds. This locks out people from the rural areas from buying houses. This is especially so for young people who are just starting on their careers. They prefer to buy houses in the towns where they can afford the prices (Satsangi 2007, pp.37). The other key problem that has been affecting housing in the UK is that affordable homes are not protected in general for sale market. This means that rich people from the cities come and buy all the affordable land on the market. The rural folks ho can buy are left out without houses. The law does not protect the rural people from rich buyers coming in from the cities and towns. This has increased the problem of housing in the rural areas. To make the matter worse most of those buyers from the city are buying second homes or holiday homes. This means that they cannot live in the homes they buy in the rural areas most of the times. As the homes of these super rich city dwellers lie idle the year round, the rural dwellers continue to suffer. It is an irony that is prevalent in most capitalistic countries, in the world. That house can lie vacant most of the time while other people live on the streets (Norris and Winston 2008, pp.105). In the wake, of these problems affecting the rural housing sector several measures should be taken to curb these problems. The measures recommended should be implemented with sped because people are suffering. As the paper records elsewhere, the housing crisis has seen a lot of people suffering. Most rural folks live in overcrowded houses. This is very bad for the government. Other rural dwellers are homeless. They do not have homes. They have taken to vagrancy. The way forward is to stop the blame game and move to solving this problem. The players involved should stop blaming one another and step into action (Norris & Redmond 2007, pp.64). One of the ways to end this menace is to incentivitise rural landowners to sell their land. The government should give incentives to those who have land in the rural areas to sell land at below market prices. This will enable poor, rural dwellers to buy land and set up buildings. It will also attract investors from without to come and invest in the rural areas. This author believes will bring about rapid building of housing units in the rural areas (Tewdwr-Jones 2006, pp.98). Alternatively the government can subsidize rural dwellers into buying land. Still on this line the government should subsidize developers to come and invest in residential houses in the rural areas (Green 2008, pp.146). Another way of dealing with the housing problem in rural areas is to encourage rural migration. This can be done by making the cities and towns more attractive. For example, the towns can be cleaned to make them more hygienic. The problem of noise and air pollution can be dealt with effectively. This will make the rural areas less desirable to immigrants; instead, they will want to stay in the cities. Most people who move to thee rural areas say that the thing that pulls them there is the good environment. This will at least reduce the demand for rural housing. Critics might argue that this is damaging to rural economies. They may post that doing so will prove to be regressive to the economy in rural areas (Bevan & Rhodes 2005, pp.39). This paper believes that most immigrants do not do much to improve the economy in the rural areas. Thus, if they stop coming the economy is not going to suffer. The rural economy has been thriving without so much input from the city dwellers and immigrants. The rural economy is not dependent on outsiders. It is self supporting to a large extend (Green 2008, pp.146). Local councils should also consider removing discounts on second homes. This is because most people who come to buy second and holiday homes in the rural areas get tax discounts. This encourages rich people to come and buy available homes in the rural areas (Bevan & Rhodes 2005, pp.39). Also, rich people in the rural areas take all the available houses as second homes. This increases the problem of housing. If the tax rebates are taken away, this will reduce the number of people taking up second homes. This will encourage permanent residence in the rural areas. This will also contribute to local housing budgets going up (Bevan & Rhodes 2005, pp.39). The local councils and committees should also control occupancy. This will limit external purchases. More houses will be in the market for the local people. This, therefore, favours the local people. Critics might argue that this is discriminatory to outsiders. It might be, but the issue is to curb the problem of rural housing. Critics may also post that this will make the local economy stagnate. This paper does not believe so. The paper has highlighted the major problems that are afflicting rural housing. A few recommendations have been given. This author has encountered many government reports that have been authored in light of the problem. This paper believes that if the recommendations posted on those reports are followed the problem will be solved. In close to ten years, the problem can be effectively dealt with (Satsangi 2008, pp.51). Also, the problem is most severe in England. This means that England should be given more resources than the other regions to address this issue. This is because although Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are affected, England is most hit. English members of parliament (House of Commons) should pressurize the government more. All in all the parties involved should not forget that people are involved, and they are suffering. The government should move fast to help the thousands of rural dwellers who are suffering. References An Bord Pleanala 2002, A Bord Pleanala annual report. An Bord Pleanala, Dublin, pp143. Bannon, M J 2004, Irish urbanisation: Trends, actions and policy challenges, Planning and Environmental Policy Research Series (PEP 04/03). Department of Planning and Environmental Policy, Dublin, pp 87. Bannon, M, J, & Russell, P 1999, The EU compendium of spatial planning Systems and policies: Ireland. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg, 113. Boyle, M 2000, Euro-regionalism and struggles over scales of governance: the Politics of Ireland’s regionalisation approach to Structural Fund allocations 2000-2006. Political Geography, 19, 756. Brunt, B 1988, Western Europe economic and social studies: the Republic of Ireland, London, Paul Chapman, 172. 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