Property Reporter reports that the Country Land and Business Association, which represents 28,000 rural businesses and landowners in England and Wales, has called on the Government to overhaul its approach to housing in rural communities

The call comes after Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove MP (Con) opted not to proceed with reforms of the complicated planning system, leaving the Government short of its housebuilding targets.

The approach laid out in the CLA’s latest report will help tackle the housing crisis in villages, where homes are becoming increasingly unaffordable to local people.

The report shows that in 2020 over 260,000 people in rural areas were on a housing waiting list.

The CLA’s report highlights the transformative economic and social benefits small-scale developments could bring to rural communities, and issues that this will only be possible if supported by a more accommodating planning framework.

Under the current system, large-scale developments which negatively alter the nature of local communities are favoured over more modest proposals.