Steve Reed MP, Labour Shadow Local Government Minister, responding to George Osborne’s announcement on rural housing and rural areas, said:

“For the past five years the Tories have ignored the needs of rural communities and on housing the government’s policies have made things worse.

“The Government says it wants to build starter homes in rural areas but it seems these will replace affordable homes to buy and rent - starter homes should be additional to affordable housing supply not instead of it.

“In many rural areas buying or renting a home has become increasingly unaffordable. Yet the government has undermined the provision of affordable housing at every step by watering down requirements on developers to build new affordable homes.

“We’ll also take no lectures on the countryside from a government that has presided over a £1,000 increase in the annual earnings gap between rural and urban areas since 2010 and that plans to allow fracking in national parks.”