For the past century, governments have been compelled, time and again, to return to the search for solutions to the housing and economic challenges posed by a restructured countryside. This book provides an analysis of the complexity of housing and development tensions in the rural areas of England, Wales, and Scotland. It looks at a range of topics related to community and planning issues, including attitudes to rural development, economic change, land use, planning, and counter-urbanization. The Rural Housing Question emphasizes the need for serious debate on government's rural housing policies and on the broad approach to development and communities in the countryside.

Housing in the European Countryside provides an overview of the housing pressures and policy challenges facing Europe, while highlighting critical differences. By drawing on contemporary research work of leading authors in the fields of housing studies, rural geography and planning, the book provides an introduction to housing issues across the European countryside for those who have hitherto been unexposed to such concerns, and who wish to gain some basic insight. This in-depth review of housing pressure in the European countryside reveals both the form, nature and variety of problems now being experienced in different parts of Europe, in addition to outlining policy solutions that are being provided by member states and other agencies in meeting the rural housing challenge at this time and in the years ahead.

Rural Scotland is a charged landscape, alive with history, soaked in myth and often rather sublime. For those of us living an urban existence, the countryside is a retreat for refuge and decompression, but it is also a place where infrastructures strain to reach and in which livings must be made. The countryside is resistant to easy explanation and is thus vulnerable to stereotyping. The nine building stories told in this book show how rural households and communities define themselves, and the role architecture plays in this. Illustrated with beautiful photography and drawings, the projects, from affordable housing on the islands to exquisite renovations of traditional agricultural stock, and all recognised by the Saltire Society's Housing Design Awards, are visually rich both in themselves and the contexts in which they sit.

This book reviews international experience of housing pressure in rural areas in a number of countries.

An evaluation of the most enduring privatisation of the Thatcher era ... Written in an accessible style, this is a key reference for students and researchers in housing and planning; geography; and social policy. The book analyses the operation and impact of the right to buy policy (RTB). It includes a critique of the Housing Act and the 2001 Housing (Scotland) Act. The enactment of these changes under a Labour government affirms the continuance of the RTB. The authors take stock of its profound effect on housing policy, reversing the growth in social housing developed over the twentieth century, transforming the nation's tenure structure and revolutionising the UK housing system. The Right to Buy: analysis and evaluation of a housing policy begins with an examination of the policy background to the establishment of the RTB and the main features of the legislation. This is followed by chapters that review its take-up and the pattern of sales and their impact on social housing; a chapter examining the financial aspects of the RTB from the viewpoints of tenants, local authorities and central government; one looking at the impact of the RTB via subsequent re-sales on the open market and on the private rented sector; and a chapter drawing on the information already reviewed to consider the potential of the RTB to create sustainable and diverse communities. In the final chapters the international experience of parallel policies are considered and the future take-up of the RTB is assessed in the light of recent reforms together with alternatives.

This book provides a multidisciplinary analysis of rural society in a post-Brexit UK by examining the emergence of new environmental and rural policies and the implications of this transition for rural communities. Through the Common Agricultural Policy, Common Fisheries Policy, the Birds and Habitats Directives, the Water Framework Directive and a myriad of other legislations and institutions, the EU has had a deciding role in how the UK’s rural environment is governed. Disentangling this policy legacy is a complex process and offers both opportunities and challenges for policy makers, institutions, organisations and stakeholders across the UK as they strive to create appropriate new governance structures. With the Agriculture Bill, the 25-Year Environment Plan and the founding of the Office of Environmental Protection, the UK government has provided at least a degree of clarity on the future direction of environmental governance, but much remains uncertain, not least how this is engaged with by different stakeholders. While Brexit is the lens through which rural policy and sustainability are interrogated, this collection demonstrates the underpinning features of rural policy and society, identifying opportunities for addressing deep-seated policy weaknesses thereby creating a more sustainable and equitable rural society. This book brings together academics, established and early career, to discuss the impact of Brexit on rural environmental governance and on the wider sustainability of rural society, relating to three overall themes: rural governance, sustainable land use, and sustainable rural communities. In doing so, it considers sectors beyond agriculture, paying attention to social relations, community infrastructure, the environment, rural development and broader issues of land use. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of rural development, rural entrepreneurship, rural digital inclusion, environmental policy, sustainable development, land use, agrarian studies and environmental geography. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.