Building communities is as important as building housing

Top of this list is second homes.

Areas like Cornwall and Devon have some of the highest levels of second-home ownership in the UK.

In Cornwall for instance, over 10,000 properties were listed on holiday rental website CozyCozy, compared with just 200 on Rightmove available to rent as permanent homes.

This continued demand for second homes and holiday rentals has understandably driven up house prices and reduced the availability of housing for local people.

“We need a consistent, concerted effort across the board to nurture thriving communities for existing and permanent residents”

While devolved action is being taken in certain areas – such as in Cornwall, which decided to increase taxation on second homes – we need a consistent, concerted effort across the board to nurture thriving communities for existing and permanent residents.

Community land trusts (CLTs) are an example of how this can be done. Indeed, Mr Gove highlighted in his speech their ability to “empower communities to build beautiful in places that they already love”.

These developments are driven by communities to ensure the homes built are exactly what they want and need.

By their design, CLTs can also empower communities to require developers to support the health of their environment, in a way that will best serve their local ecology.

At our CLT development in Eastington, Gloucestershire, for example, we’ve provided 23 households with affordable homes that are sympathetic to the environment.

The trust stated that every home should be built to high levels of thermal efficiency with electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

CLTs are an incredibly useful tool to unlock smaller pockets of land and put local people in control of that land.

They also ensure that the beautiful towns and villages – which make these areas so popular with tourists in the first place – can retain their workforces, attract visitors, and sustainably grow their economies for years to come.

While it is important to deliver multi-storey, high-volume properties in city centres, it’s also just as important for the country’s long-term sustainability that our rural communities are not left behind in the long-term plan for housing.

Amanda Williams, chief investment officer, Aster Group