Rural homes face soaring heating costs as report calls for new strategy

A new report has outlined that the UK government “urgently needs” a rural strategy.

The report was published by the Labour Rural Research Group (LRRG) and sponsored by the Countryside Alliance.

The news comes as oil prices surge amidst rapidly escalating tensions in the Middle East.It has been said that the price increase will hit rural communities hardest. 1.5 million homes are not connected to the mains gas grid and depend on oil for the heating.

The Countryside Alliance says such households are not protected by Ofgem’s energy price cap, and in recent days some have reported an increase in oil prices of up to 117%.

Last week, the group were warned of this, stating that soaring oil prices would disproportionately affect the countryside, where people are more reliant on cars for transport, more reliant on oil for their heating, and longer supply chains push food prices higher.

The LRRG’s new report highlights these issues as part of the structural “rural penalty” that affects families across the countryside.

Despite this “rural penalty”, the report warns, national funding and service models continue to be urban-centric, assuming high levels of density and proximity to services.

Rural poverty 

Tim Bonner, Chief Executive of the Countryside Alliance, commented: “Rural poverty is not a marginal concern, it is a structural failure hiding in plain sight. The evidence gathered in this report is unambiguous.

“The Countryside Alliance has long argued that government priorities have been shaped overwhelmingly by urban assumptions. This is not the result of geography – it is the result of political choices.

“But political choices can be changed, and this report stresses the urgent need for a comprehensive Rural Strategy, which would send a clear signal that this government understand rural Britain not as a peripheral concern, but as central to national growth and social cohesion.

“We urge the government to treat the recommendations in this report seriously and to move with pace. Rural people have heard warm words before – what they need is action.”

The LRRG brings together more than 40 rural and semi-rural Labour MPs – representing over 10% of the Parliamentary Labour Party.

Daily reality 

The Group’s Chair, Jennifer Riddell-Carpenter MP, said: “For millions of people across our countryside and coastal communities, hardship is not the exception — it is a daily reality.

“Without coordinated, cross-government reform, rural communities will continue to face higher costs, fewer options and weaker service access.

“Rural Britain has so much to give, and the last Conservative Government failed to realise that ambition, or to attempt to tackle the inequalities in our countryside.

“A “Rural Strategy” could help to unleash the potential in rural Britain, and help to deliver real growth and opportunity for our rural heartlands.

“In a matter of days since the war began with Iran, we’ve seen off grid oil prices surge by more than 100%, leaving thousands of UK rural household extremely vulnerable to off grid energy price fluctuations.

“Many thousands of families are now fearful that it will be impossible to buy oil to heat their home, and they are now longing for a mild spring.

“This volatility exposes rural Britain to greater challenges, and pushes more families into rural poverty. We urgently need a “Rural Strategy”, that includes an energy price cap for off grid homes.”

Rural penalty 

The report contains striking evidence demonstrating the “rural penalty” that people living in the countryside have to pay, be that higher transport and food costs, significantly higher energy bills, and grossly lacking digital connectivity.

The LRRG has therefore set out 24 recommendations centred on a comprehensive Rural Strategy that addresses root causes rather than symptoms of hardship; going beyond isolated interventions or “rural add-ons”. These address poverty across income, employment, education, health, housing, crime, connectivity and access to services.

The full report can be found here.