Member

The approach set out in the Bill is designed to ensure that rural exemptions can be aligned with existing designation frameworks and updated where necessary in a timely and proportionate way, and the designations are technical and evidence-based. The current criteria applied to applications for rural designation under Section 157 of the Housing Act 1985 are that an area should have a population density of no more than two persons per hectare and a population of 3,000 or fewer. These are well-established criteria which were introduced to protect affordable housing in rural communities. The Government have no current plans to amend them.