‘Tackle rural homes crisis’
Mar 11 2008 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal
COUNTRYSIDE campaigners are urging the Chancellor to think rural as he puts the final touches to his first budget.
Recommendations designed to ensure villages in places such as Northumberland get the best out of tomorrow’s Budget have been submitted by the Commission for Rural Communities, the Government-appointed countryside quango.
Top of the list is tax relief for developers prepared to invest in affordable homes and a change to business rates rules which make it harder for rural businesses to survive.
The CRC has called for the Government to remember its own advice from 2004 which stated that any major policy should be judged by its impact on rural areas, something campaigners say has failed to happen.
Senior economic adviser Alastair Johnson said the organisation had written to the Chancellor recommending measures which would help tackle the affordable housing crisis gripping Northumberland. “We’ve made these suggestions because we know that while a lot is being done to produce more affordable housing, there is still more that needs to happen,” he said.
“There are many ways of tackling the affordable homes problem, with a lot of money coming from central and local Government. We believe our measures will encourage some private sector solutions.
“The affordable housing targets are not being met and there is much more which can be done, and the private sector has a big role to play in this.”
The commission has suggested incentives to help farmers set up new ventures. “Farmers are encouraged to diversify their business, but if they do, they lose a lot of the benefits they enjoy in the agricultural sector. So, another of our submissions is for a temporary period of tax help for these new rural businesses.”
The CRC’s Budget ideas include measures to increase the number of affordable homes available and include income tax relief for funds invested and exemption from capital gains tax on disposal.
It also called on the Government to extend a holiday homes tax scheme which cuts the tax burden on people who rent out furnished holiday lets.
The commission said a similar scheme could be used for people who rent affordable homes or flats in villages where second-home owners and commuters have priced others out of the market.
It also suggested an incentive to people who sell inherited houses as affordable homes. Inheritance tax would be paid only if the home was sold at market rates.
Click here to read the FSB's budget proposal and the CBI's alternative Budget speech
