The NatWest Chair has recently been criticised for stating it’s not that difficult for people to get on the housing ladder.  The BBC reported that critics said his comments on the BBC Today Programme were “astounding” and “out of touch with reality”.  Sir Howard, NatWest Chair later sought to clarify his remarks stating, “that in context, access to mortgages is less difficult than it has been”. Read the full BBC article here to find out how Generation Rent and mortgage specialist reacted to his comments as well as learn from ONS figures that average weekly earnings are simply not keeping pace with average house prices .

Research by the RSN shows buying a home in rural areas is far from easy. Rural residents pay on average 20% in council tax, earn £2,000 less and pay £74 a week more in household expenditure. Figures from 2022 show that the average cheapest house in rural areas was nearly 9 times more than the lowest local earnings. Making house ownership untenable for many in rural areas. 

Affordable Housing is a key priority for the Rural Services Network and we continue to raise the importance of affordable housing to the government.  To find out more about our rural affordable housing asks, see: https://www.rsnonline.org.uk/winning-the-rural-vote