New Forest commoners 'priced out' by rising rents

Oliver Cook was born in the New Forest and has livestock there but lives in Romsey

People whose animals maintain the New Forest landscape say they are being priced out by high rents.

Properties reserved for commoners and forestry workers are being let at the highest rent possible, critics claim.

Commoners say it means people working the land are losing out to higher ranking Forestry Commission staff.

Forestry England, which manages the properties, said it needed to balance the need to maintain the forest with the need for financial stability.

It denies accusations by the New Forest Commoners Defence Association that it is ignoring government policy of keeping the rents affordable.

'Whitewashed from villages'

Oliver Cook from Romsey has been waiting for a commoners' house for five years.

He said: "I have a day job - most commoners do - so it's really difficult to be able to keep an eye on your livestock if you're not driving through every day."

Forestry worker union rep George Witcher said: "We feel like we've been forgotten and we've got no value at all. Our villages are being whitewashed of commoners and forest workers."

New Forest West MP Desmond Swayne said: "We are going to have a generation of commoners who are going to have to move to housing estates and you simply cannot manage your livestock - which are essential for the maintenance of the landscape - in those kinds of circumstances."

A statement from Forestry England said: "We prioritise our staff and offer discounted rents to commoners."

It said "substantial public subsidy" helped "keep the benefits to commoning".

"We have to balance this with the need for financial sustainability to manage the local houses and the cost to the taxpayer of caring for the New Forest," the statement added.

It said a four-bedroom detached house with paddock and stables in Brockenhurst was being advertised "well below market value" at £1,450 a month.