This report examines how rural housing is being affected by the recession, and makes suggestions for actions including:

• Government ensure that grant levels for rural housing stay at current levels for the remainder of the HCA 2009/2010 and 2010/11 programme

• HCA change the funding criteria for the second round of the Kickstart programme to ensure that its access for rural areas is significantly improved

• HCA provide ring fencing for rural areas to ensure equitable take up in this second phase of the Kickstart programme

Read our latest report to the Secretary of State

Download previous reports

Please keep your contributions for our reports coming.  Your submissions and evidence are central to helping Ministers and decision makers hear the rural voice.

Find out how you can contribute to our reports

The event is the last of 4 summits following the report on 'England’s rural areas: steps to releasing their economic potential' by  Stuart Burgess, our chair and the Government's Rural Advocate.

View the agenda for the summit

We've been reporting regularly to the Secretary of State on how the recession is impacting on rural businesses, employment and households. Find out how you can contribute and help enable the rural voice and needs to be put by him to the National Economic Council.

• an increasing deterioration of businesses across rural England

• heavy reliance of rural businesses on finance secured on mortgage lending, overdrafts and credit card borrowing

• high visibility of major retail closures in market towns 

We want your views and experiences by Friday 9 October to help inform our next business performance report. We'd like to hear about:

• evidence of closures-business insolvencies

• comments on national support measures (tax holidays, rate reliefs etc.) and local support measures to attract new business:
  

  Are there any (local support measures)?
  Are they working?
  Are they appreciated?
  What else should be in place?

• prospects for the future:
  Is there evidence of recovery?
  What is the degree of confidence (are there any types of businesses expressing confidence?)?

• current experiences on bank lending (charges etc.)

• whether there are any new businesses started by people who have been made redundant

Our recession reports are submitted mid-monthly to the Secretary of State to help enable the rural voice and needs to be put by him to the National Economic Council.

Find out more about how you can contribute your evidence and experience to our next report

The joint summit with Advantage West Midlands and EMDA is aiming to push rural economies higher up decision makers’ agendas.

"Rural businesses and employees are a vital part of the nation’s and regions’ economies yet they can be overlooked in government support packages and policies. We are aiming to tackle this head on by bringing together some of the most influential rural practitioners."

“We want these practitioners to take a key role today in developing a ‘blueprint’ for strengthening rural economies and preparing a path towards recovery from the recession by highlighting what kind of support businesses need, to grow into healthy enterprises with solid foundations offering secure employment.”

Read the full press release

Go to the social media news release and watch videos about some great thriving rural enterprises

The event is 1 of 4 summits following the report on 'England’s rural areas: steps to releasing their economic potential' by  Stuart Burgess, our chair and the Government's Rural Advocate.

The recession has upset investment plans and many firms and households are experiencing greater challenges in accessing funds.

With expectations of tighter public spending ahead, firms and communities will want to share ways of tackling these challenges and explore how to harness their resources of people, ideas and places.

This joint summit with Advantage West Midlands and EMDA offers an excellent opportunity to let Government hear your ideas about releasing the potential of our rural economies to aid recovery and economic wellbeing.

Read the draft agenda

Places for this event are limited. If you're interested in attending please email us at summits@ruralcommunities.gov.uk

This event is the 1 of 4 summits following the report on 'England’s rural areas: steps to releasing their economic potential' by  Stuart Burgess, our chair and the Government's Rural Advocate.

We've been reporting regularly to the Secretary of State on how the recession is impacting on rural businesses, employment and households. Find out how you can contribute and help enable the rural voice and needs to be put by him to the National Economic Council.

This report examines how market towns are being affected by the recession, and makes suggestions for government actions including:

• improving access to government business & economic support funds over the next 12 months

• activation of the Town Centre Initiative Fund, announced in April 2009, ensuring market towns and larger rural villages are eligible to apply
  

• finding new ways to give rural people and market towns better access to support for job seeking & training

Read our latest report to the Secretary of State

Download previous reports

Please keep your contributions for our reports coming.  Your submissions and evidence are central to helping Ministers and decision makers hear the rural voice.

Find out how you can contribute to our reports

The report highlights the effects of the recession on rural labour markets, some of the policy issues, and makes suggestions for government actions, including:

• new ways to be found to give rural people better access to support for job seeking and training

• rural areas and people to be given equal access to the new funding and resources announced in the Budget

Read our latest report to the Secretary of State

Download previous reports

Please keep your contributions for our reports coming.  Your submissions and evidence are central to helping Ministers and decision makers hear the rural voice.

Find out how you can contribute to our reports

How do we better promote success, broaden appreciation of achievers and raise aspirations of rural residents, firms and decision makers?

This joint summit with the East of England Development Agency and South East of England Development Agency is focusing on how inspiration and leadership can help release the potential of our rural economies.

The event is the 2nd of 4 summits following the report on 'England’s rural areas: steps to releasing their economic potential' by  Stuart Burgess, our chair and the Government's Rural Advocate.

Download the draft agenda

We've been reporting regularly to the Secretary of State on how the recession is impacting on rural businesses, employment and households. Find out how you can contribute and help enable the rural voice and needs to be put to the National Economic Council.

The report highlights the effects of the recession on financial inclusion in rural areas, some of the policy issues, and makes suggestions for government actions.

Read our latest report to the Secretary of State

Please keep your contributions for our reports coming.  Your submissions and evidence are central to helping Ministers and decision makers hear the rural voice.

Find out how you can contribute to our reports

Our latest report examines housing in rural areas. Since we last focused on housing in December we have seen:

• A continued fall in rural house prices, sales and demand for land with housing potential

• Despite this, rural affordability remains a greater problem than urban and this is exacerbated by credit limitations and increased deposit requirements

• Lack of affordable housing options for the increasing number of rural residents made homeless

• Rural repossessions rising at nearly double the rate for England as a whole during 2007 and 2008.

Read our latest report to the Secretary of State

Please keep your contributions for our reports coming.  Your submissions and evidence are central to helping Ministers and decision makers hear the rural voice.

Find out how you can contribute to our reports

Our reports are submitted mid-monthly for the NEC meetings and each month has a different focus. For our April report, helped by DWP's Rural Financial Inclusion Champion, we're examining the impact of the recession on financial inclusion.

The report is focusing on the recession's effect on levels and profile of household debt and the provision of basic financial services and advice in rural areas, including:

• Changes to levels of debt and the reasons for these changes

• the impact on access and demand for affordable credit

• the impact on access and demand for emergency loans through the Social Fund and other facilities

• the impact on access and demand for debt advice and money guidance

Find out how you can contribute to our reports

Read our 1st report on 'Recession Impacts on the Economies and Communities of Rural England'

Download the 2nd report to the Secretary of State

Read our 3rd report

Download our latest report focussing on employment and the rural labour market

Our latest report explores changes to rural labour markets, rural unemployment and benefit claimants. Many small and peripheral rural economies are seeing:

• rapid and substantial increases in those registered for Job Seekers Allowance

• very low numbers of unfilled vacancies, and

• insufficient resources to offer local retraining

We believe this is so serious that we're recommending that the Secretary of State makes this the first 'focus for advice' for action.

Read our 4th report to the Secretary of State

Please keep your contributions for our reports coming.  Your submissions and evidence are central to helping Ministers and decision makers hear the rural voice.

Find out how you can contribute to our reports

Professor Parkinson's team collected a wide range of evidence from across the country based upon interviews with many key players in the regeneration community, a major national survey, and analysis of work with many regeneration agencies.

We've been able to reflect your evidence and experience on the implications of the ‘credit crunch’ on rural communities in the report. Our contribution is summarised on pages 63 and 64.

We’ve also been asked by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to provide regular reports about the impacts of the economic downturn on rural businesses, employment and households. These reports will help enable the rural voice and needs to be put to the National Council.

Help inform our reports and enable the rural voice and needs to be put to the National Economic Council.

Read the full report to CLG

Find out more about how you can contribute your evidence and experience to our reports to the Secretary of State

• met local residents involved with a proposed housing scheme in the village of Abbess Roding

• visited the market town of Great Dunmow to talk with Citizens Advice, Saffron Building Society and Mullucks Wells Estate Agent about the effects of the recession

• met the residents of a successful housing scheme in the village of Thaxted

Sir Bob Kerslake talks to residents at Abbess Roding

Each participant is submitting details of what they will do as a result of the visit and will also receive a debriefing session. We'll collate this information and feed it into our evidence to the National Economic Council.

The visit was led by Sir Bob Kerslake, Chief Executive of the Homes and Communities Agency:

“What will really stay with me from the visit are the human interest stories. The local builder who needed an affordable home in his village for his family but felt his voice wasn’t heard in the planning system; the courageous parish councillor who was battling against the odds to get an affordable housing scheme built; and the severely disabled young man whose first home in the same village as his father had provided him with dignity and independence. To me these stories illustrate the issues that the rural housing debate is all about”.

Delegates hear about the state of the housing market at Mullucks Wells Estates Agents

Stuart Burgess, our chair and the Government's Rural Advocate, hosted a pre-visit working dinner for the participants:

“This first Rural Experience has been a real success. Rural housing continues to be the most pressing concern for rural people and I hope by getting together many of the key players in the debate we will see some real progress in dealing with the issues surrounding rural housing. I will also be reporting directly back to the Prime Minister on the key points emanating from the visit”.

Delegates outside the Little Maypole housing scheme in Thaxted

New ideas and innovative products and services can help lessen the recession’s impacts, and hasten the recovery of rural economies.

Can the public and corporate sectors strengthen such opportunities?

Are there successful examples and initiatives on which to build?

Our joint event with The Northern Way and the northern RDAs will focus on how innovation in rural areas can be encouraged to help drive stronger rural economies.

The event is the first of four summits following the report on 'England’s rural areas: steps to releasing their economic potential' by  Stuart Burgess, our chair and the Government's Rural Advocate. 

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Hilary Benn, will be delivering the Government's response to Stuart's report at the event.

We've been reporting regularly to the Secretary of State on how the recession is impacting on rural businesses, employment and households. Find out how you can contribute and help enable the rural voice and needs to be put to the National Economic Council.

Unfortunately this event is now full, but we'll post information and presentations from the summit on our website as soon as we can