A national campaign group is asking Shropshire Council to sign up to a new charter aimed at getting more affordable homes built for local people in rural parts of the county.
The National Housing Federation, which represents England’s housing associations, has written to the council urging the authority to back a three point rural housing action plan, which would help prevent local families and young people being priced out of the countryside.
The Federation said it hoped Shropshire would act as a trailblazer for the region by signing up to the charter and praised it for its clear commitment to rural communities.
The appeal comes after a poll revealed the scale of the rural housing crisis facing the West Midlands and the concerns of people living in the countryside over high house prices, service closures and second homes.
Federation regional manager, Paul Williams, said the average house price in rural England has more than doubled over the last decade, and now stands at £256,698.
But the average salary in rural areas such as South Shropshire is just £21,000 meaning the vast majority of people have virtually no hope of ever being able to afford a home in their local area.
A third of rural dwellers said key services like village shops, post offices and pubs have declined over the last five years fuelling fears that traditional village life is now in terminal decline.
The Federation, which represents England’s housing associations, said the results of the poll reflected growing fears that many rural communities were now in terminal decline and called on more affordable homes to be built for young people. The federation has called on Shropshire to sign up to its ‘Save our villages’ campaign, which is asking local housing authorities to regularly assess housing need in their rural areas and to then draw up an action plan to show it intends to meet that need.
Mr Williams added: “We know Shropshire shares our commitment to supporting vibrant, sustainable rural communities which is why we’re asking it to back the campaign and take a big step towards tackling the shortage of affordable homes in the many parts of the Shropshire countryside.
“Young people and families are being priced out of many rural areas and local services such as village shops and pubs are disappearing with them fuelling fears that traditional village life is in decline.”