The requirement that 40% of homes in rural areas must be affordable may be counter productive. Affordable homes in rural areas should be provided to meet local needs only. If an excess of affordable homes are available then these will be offered to people who presently have no contacts with the area. They will then need to make extra journeys to travel to work or to access their existing recreational and social facilities.
If there is no identified need for local affordable housing the developer should then be required to contribute towards the cost of building affordable housing where it is needed.