Lack of affordable housing fuelling mass closures of village pubs

22nd June 2009, 11:10am

Up to 650 country pubs will close over the next 12 months - as traditional village life in Britain is plunged into terminal decline by a chronic shortage of affordable housing, according to a coalition of leading campaign groups.

The National Housing Federation has joined forces with the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) and the Rural Shops Alliance (RSA) to highlight the alarming number of shops as well as pubs closing down in rural areas.

Across Britain, the BBPA estimates 54 country pubs could close a month if current trends continued.

The Federation said the mass closures reflected a declining demand for services in villages where local families – the core customer base – had been priced out of the area 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 real 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.

"Affordable housing lies at the centre of the battle to save traditional village life. Unless we build more affordable homes for local people, they will continue to be priced out of rural areas and the shops and pubs they support will vanish with them."

Mark Hastings, Director of Communication for the BBPA, said: "Much loved community pubs are right at the heart of village life. They are also a key part of our heritage and a huge draw for tourism. All too often, pubs are one of the last community facilities in many villages. Across a range of fronts, we badly need policies from the Government that support pubs."

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