HEREFORD CONSERVATIVE ASSOCIATION
PARLIAMENTARY SPOKESMAN: VIRGINIA TAYLOR
15 Kyrle Street, Hereford HR1 2ET
Tel: 01432 272020 Fax: 01432 272145

PRESS RELEASE
15 October 2001

AFFORDABLE HOMES IN HEREFORDSHIRE A 'MUST' SAYS CONSERVATIVE

Speaking at a meeting on the future of rural communities at the Conservative Party Conference in 
Blackpool last week, Hereford Conservative's Parliamentary Spokesman, Virginia Taylor, called for 
more affordable homes in the countryside, especially for young people.

"After Cumbria and Devon, Herefordshire and the Welsh Borders has been one of the worst areas in 
the country affected by foot and mouth", she told the meeting. "As farmers, and those who live and 
work in the countryside – try to rebuild a sustainable and profitable future in their communities, there 
is one subject that is often overlooked: the lack of affordable housing."

"In many parts of Herefordshire many people – especially young people – have been literally priced 
out of the market towns and villages they grew up in. Many farmers tell me their sons and daughters 
are leaving the land – not only because farming is in the doldrums – but because they cannot afford 
to live there."

"We need our young people – and those wanting to start new businesses in the countryside and 
contribute to the local community – to be able to afford to live there in the first place. Affordable 
housing schemes would be not only popular and not only necessary, they would be right."

Virginia has written to Peter Ainsworth, Shadow Secretary of State at the Department of the 
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), calling for innovative ideas on extending the Shared 
Ownership and Right to Buy schemes, offering Homesteading Grants and encouraging the building of 
low cost starter homes.

Printed & Published  by John Trout, 15 Kyrle Street, Hereford, HR1 2ET