Housing Minister Caroline Flint: Countryside Must Be Built On

The countryside must be built on to provide cheaper homes for young families, the housing minister has said.

Caroline Flint warned that a lack of available housing meant that younger and lower-paid people could no longer afford to live in the countryside.
"Many of our rural communities are growing older and older, and that is not sustainable for the future," she said, adding that the Government's attempt to change this meant "more building in some cases".
She added: "If we are going to keep our rural areas thriving, we need those younger people to stay there."
Miss Flint blamed the housing shortages on residents who "vociferously" opposed new building in their area, and said families were being forced apart.
"In a number of our rural communities, there are families that have lived there for generations, often in the lowest-paid jobs in a rural economy," she told BBC Radio 4.
"They're part of the rural history, makeup and nature of that area, and they are losing out."

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NO, The real reason younger people cant afford to live in the countryside is that mega rich bankers and M.P's have bought up all the affordable rural housing to extend and turn into holiday lets and second homes in the country therefore pushing up the prices of other properties in the area. I've seen it at first hand!

The village I grew up in in rural wales was a hive of activity with 2 pubs 3 tea rooms 3 shops a post office village school and a well focussed community.
Then the second home buyers started snapping up the available cottages doing them up and using them one week in the summer the rest of the local properties for sale started rising in price, then the holiday let market came and slowly but surely the shops started closing and turned into dwellings, the school closed due to falling numbers, now all that is left is a village shop/Post office and a pub.
The government and Post Office in their wisdom have now closed the post office and as the post master eplained the shop isnt viable without the post office so that is closing too!

I ber Caroline Flint has a second home in the country!!