Mortgage levels reach half of income

Some rural communities are spending nearly half their monthly income on mortgage payments, according to a new report.

12:14 22 June 2004

Some rural communities are spending nearly half their monthly income on mortgage payments, according to a new report.

The report by the Countryside Agency found that rising house prices coupled with the lack of affordable properties is making life particularly tough in many rural areas.

Its State of the Countryside 2004 report reveals more and more people are moving from towns and cities into rural England.

That is pushing up house prices and means homelessness is growing in rural areas. Between 2001 and 2003, the proportion of homeless households in remote rural districts rose by almost 30 per cent, the report found.

The agency said rural households were spending increasing amounts of their income on mortgage payments, indicating that fewer local families could afford to buy houses in rural parts of the region.

Tim De-Keyser, regional director of the Countryside Agency, said rural areas in the region had seen a huge number of newcomers in recent years.

"More people are making the choice to move to the countryside and, if they have the money to do it, they get a great quality of life," he said.

"But for people who are not lucky enough to be in that position - those who may have grown up in a rural area, are on a relatively low wage and not able to get on the housing ladder - it's a lot tougher.

"What we are generally seeing is a majority of people making the most of the good life they get in the countryside, but a minority of people being excluded from that. We need to focus on that and help them enjoy a better quality of life."

However, not all the conclusions were negative and the report shows that incomers generate jobs for local people as well as for themselves and that the number of rural businesses is growing faster than in urban areas.