Thirteen million Britons living in the countryside face inadequate housing provision, a report has warned.

The Country Land and Business Association said local authorities were struggling to reach targets for the building of affordable housing.

The group added that many rural housing estates were too costly for locals.

Overall, the group warned that unless the government introduced more flexible planning rules the economy of rural Britain would come under threat.

The pressure group's report called on the government to make planning authorities meet local housing need by allowing more homes to be built on the edge of existing villages.

In addition, the report's authors said that greater use should be made of redundant farm buildings for housing, along with a change in the definition of "brownfield sites" to include land previously used for agriculture.