The key challenges for England’s ‘overlooked’ places

As place becomes increasingly important in public policy, a new report from Localis pinpoints the challenges for some of England’s overlooked communities.

Through a series of case studies, the report looks at the changes and challenges of three types of places that are poorly served by public policy – market and new towns, the urban north and rural areas.

The report shows that overall England is becoming healthier and happier, with life expectancy and reported levels of wellbeing both on the rise. But alongside these figures are rising levels of childhood obesity and depression, and fears that as household incomes are further squeezed, health trends may be impacted.

For while unemployment has remained low, wage growth in England has slowed in comparison to other EU countries. The report highlights a number of uncertainties surrounding household incomes, including the working age benefit freeze and rising cost of living.

Young people are increasingly living at home and the percentage of children under the age of 20 living in relative poverty has begun to increase again after years of decline.

How are these changes and challenges impacting places across England, particularly those that are often left out of public policy considerations?

Localis found that while market and new towns are becoming attractive places for the over-30s to move to, they are haemorrhaging young people at an ever-quicker rate.

Rates of homelessness are high with little sign that it will reduce soon, and transient populations are becoming problematic.

The urban north however is becoming a destination for young people, attracted by universities and the relative low cost of housing. But communities in the urban north have lagged other parts of the UK in terms of disposable income and recovery from the financial crisis of 2008 and show no signs of catching up, and poverty levels among young people are high.

People are less healthy and happy in the urban north and their populations are the most indebted in the country.

In rural areas young people enjoy high levels of employment but costs of privately renting are increasing every year and younger populations are leaving at even higher rates than market and new towns.

The data shows that while people living in rural area are the happiest in England, the problems of an ageing population are felt most acutely here. For, while rural places are the biggest net importers of people they are also by far the biggest net exporters of young people.