Comment & Analysis

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More than 1,000 country pubs and village shops could be forced to close in the next year because of a shortage of affordable housing in rural areas.

A campaign group is warning that village life in Britain is being plunged into terminal decline.

New research suggests that up to 650 pubs and 400 shops will shut if current trends continue.

The warnings come from the National Housing Federation, the Rural Shops Alliance and the British Beer and Pub Association.

They maintain that the scale of the closures will be unprecedented.

Already, 1,200 shops in rural areas had been forced to close in the past two years.

The Federation says the mass closures reflect declining demand for village services. Local families have been priced out of areas by an influx of wealthy commuters and second home owners.

Federation chief executive David Orr said: "If the local pub and shop disappear from a village, it rips the heart out of community life. Many villages are now in danger of losing their unique identity.

"They are becoming holiday zones preserved for tourists and second home owners, which close down for business in the winter."

In the Lake District beauty spot of Coniston, more than half the houses are second homes. Plans are already underway to build affordable homes to keep what's left of their community intact.

Painter and decorator Adam Kelly has lived in Coniston all his life.

He, his partner and their 18-month-old daughter Cecelia have to live in a small rented two-bedroom flat. They can't afford the inflated prices caused by the influx of second home buyers.

Adam said: "A small two-up-two-down former worker's cottage in the village recently sold for close on £300,000. I just can't compete with that. Our flat is too small. We can't even get Cecelia's pram up the stairs."

"I have nothing against second home owners; in fact they give me lots of work. We just need housing that local people can afford. They are starting to build some, thankfully, and I'm on a list to get one.

"Unfortunately it is difficult and many people move away. You can see the problem reflected in the football and cricket clubs in the village. They are always struggling to raise a team."

The campaign group estimates that around 100,000 new affordable homes need to be built in England alone to meet demand in rural areas over the next 10 years.

They want local authorities in rural areas to draw up action plans to address the housing needs in their communities.

The government has pledged to build three million new homes by 2020, alongside special schemes for affordable and social housing.

And they say more people will be encouraged on to the housing ladder through shared ownership schemes.