It said the the government must encourage more rural housing.
Brian Berry, head of public policy at the RICS, said: "The pressures on the countryside have seen a manifest increase over recent years. 105,000 people migrated from urban to rural areas in 2005, a 25 per cent increase since 2000. However, the supply of housing in rural areas has actually been moving in the opposite direction with a 4 per cent fall in housing completions between 2002 and 2005."
Berry warned: "New housing in the countryside must not repeat the mistakes of the past with poor standards of design, which have been so destructive to the beauty of the countryside. We support the call for previously developed public land to be made available for affordable housing but also emphasise that development should take place on Greenfield sites if deemed to be necessary. The countryside and rural areas also need to adapt to changing circumstances and this may include building more homes. The countryside is not a museum."
