A lack of land and planning laws are causing rural social housing shortages and increased homelessness.

The National Housing Federation has told the government’s Affordable Rural Housing Commission that the rural situation has now become critical.

The NHF said that while rural house prices are going up, there has been a decrease in the number of new affordable homes being built.

The NHF said that from 1999-2003 the proportion of homeless households in rural areas increased by 24%.

The Federation also said that it wants a national rural housing strategy to be drawn up, VAT to be reduced to 5% for refurbishment of empty rural houses and for surplus government land to be used for social housing.

It is also recommending that more rural people be given key worker status and for the right to buy social housing to be restricted.

David Orr who is Chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said: “The acute shortage of affordable housing is a threat to the prosperity and existence of rural communities and market towns.

A lack of land, a slow and unresponsive planning system and unthinking ‘Nimby’ opposition is preventing not-for-profit housing associations from building the new homes needed to keep communities alive.

We’re not talking about huge numbers here either. Often just half a dozen new affordable homes can turn a declining village into a vibrant community with a real future - keeping open local services, such as the village school, which might otherwise be forced to close.”