Levels of housing access in rural areas are determined by economic drivers, including local earnings, constraints on new housing supply, and by levels of market intrusion. This review article briefly examines these drivers before situating rural areas in contemporary housing access (and housing crisis) debates in England. It examines different options for reshaping housing outcomes, noting a longstanding preference for incremental change over the sorts of fundamental shifts that could radically alter the distribution of housing wealth, but with potentially deep political and economic repercussions
