⁍ Nearly 20,000 households were categorised as homeless by local governments in 2019/20, up 115% from 2017/18 figures.

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⁍ Britain’s housing ministry said the year-on-year comparison was ‘misleading’ as a change in the law in 2018 had made more people eligible for government support.

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– Homelessness in rural areas of England has more than doubled in the past two years as rising cost of housing has priced out local people, researchers said Wednesday. Nearly 20,000 households were classified as homeless by local governments in rural areas of England in the last year and a half, up 115% from the year prior, according to a study jointly by three countryside charities. Crispin Truman, chief executive of the one of the charities, CPRE, said “we are a long way off delivering more of this and tragically, rural homelessness continues to soar.” He said nine out of 10 key workers in rural areas are being priced out of the communities they serve by private rents, the Thomson Reuters Foundation reports. Martin Collett, chief executive of the English Rural Housing Association, said further deregulation of the housing industry would only make the situation worse. “The evidence is crystal clear that this is the best way to provide affordable homes for rural communities, especially the key workers who communities rely on now, more than ever, while at the same time jump starting the economy,” he said. Britain has for decades failed to build enough housing to keep up with rising demand, driving house prices sharply higher. In August, the government set out proposals to speed up homebuilding by cutting red tape and opening up the sector to smaller firms, in a bid to address a long-term housing shortage. But the chief executive of the English Rural Housing Association, another charity involved in the study, said further deregulation would only make the situation worse.