ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to examine the nature of rural housing and rural households in the two districts chosen for case study, namely, Cotswold and South Oxfordshire. Some updating of housing data on a roughly comparable basis should be possible as a result of returns which have to be made by local authorities in connection with Housing Investment Programmes. Conversely, occupancy rates suggest that underoccupation of the housing stock may well be something of a problem, particularly for a local housing authority seeking to optimise the use of its property. Households in local authority housing tend to be larger and rather more crowded than other tenure groups. The national view of rural housing which was culminated with a classification of rural households to give seven rural housing profiles. The quality of housing exceeds the South Oxfordshire District average and it appears to be essentially the preserve of established professional groups.
