Introduction

Is the rural private rented sector any different from its urban counterpart? If it is, why should it be of interest? Part of the answer lies in the changed policy agenda introduced by New Labour since they came to power in 1997.

Rural concerns are higher on the national policy agenda now than they have ever been in recent years. The BSE crisis, the debate over hunting and the foot and mouth outbreak have successively grabbed the national headlines. Housing has also been pushed up the national agenda, albeit quietly, because of its links to broader social, economic and environmental issues. However, many housing professionals, if asked, are likely to say that the ‘rural voice’ is still largely ignored by what is seen as an urban-oriented government. Even when rural issues are debated housing is seen as marginalised within that debate (Brown, 2000). This lack of attention is reflected in the somewhat limited research undertaken on housing in rural areas generally and of the private rented sector's role in such areas in particular.

The government's publication of both a Rural White Paper (DEFRA, 2000) and a Housing Green Paper (DETR, 2000a) may have done little fundamentally to change the views of housing professionals. Both documents outlined a range of measures around housing issues, some new, some not so new but few revolutionary in nature. Those proposals contained in the Rural White Paper are now being carried forward through the newly formed Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Implementation Plan (DEFRA, 2001). Action on the measures set out in the Housing Green Paper have been incorporated in The way forward for housing (DETR/DSS, 2000). This policy agenda needs to be seen against a backdrop of social and economic change in the countryside. As Shucksmith (2000) argues, “The economies and societies of rural areas of Britain are changing rapidly in the face of globalisation, economic restructuring, migration and other social and policy changes”. What is the role and experience of the private rented sector in rural areas in this changing world? (For a specifically Scottish perspective see Chapter Six.)

This chapter looks first at definitions of what is rural and the implications that lie behind such definitions.