Second homeowners are causing problems in rural communities admits Margaret Beckett, secretary of state for the environment and rural affairs. Rising house prices have made it difficult for some local people to afford to buy in the area they grew up in. Beckett was speaking at the launch of Labour’s rural manifesto. It said Labour would: “explore measures to ensure that local residents and their families' can continue to buy homes.” The manifesto promises a new national commission to tackle the shortage of affordable housing in the countryside. Beckett said she wanted the commission to investigate the cause of the problem. “I want them [the commission] to look and see what are these rather disaggregated and different problems and see what are the things that we are not doing now. In some areas there is a second home problem, in other areas there is not.” (Guardian)