Griff Rhys Jones, the presenter of BBC2\'s Restoration programmes, has become the popular face of the built heritage and in November appeared at the launch of two new reports covering the sector.

One was called Putting it off: How lack of maintenance fails our heritage. The other was Crafts in the English Countryside: Towards a future.

Putting it off was launched on 24 November as part of National Maintenance Week organised by the Society for the Protection of Rural England (SPAB).

It is published by Maintain our Heritage, a group formed in 1999 to promote a long-term strategy for the care of historic buildings through maintenance rather than sporadic repair - an approach inevitably described as sustainable because the government wants everything to be sustainable and the report was funded by the government through the Department of Trade & Industry\'s Partners in Innovation scheme, English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Putting it off was launched at Wilton\'s Music Hall, London, where Griff Rhyse Jones said: "Maintenance is the key to putting wreckers out of a job. I am delighted to be supporting the report."

The 46-page report says listed buildings are deteriorating because of a lack of simple maintenance like clearing the gutters.

And it says current legislation and policies do not adequately encourage maintenance because they offer little leadership. By having VAT on repairs but not on alterations, there was even a tax disincentive to maintaining property.

The report calls for the support of maintenance in six areas: leadership and co-ordination; grants and financial incentives; information, advice and technical support; analysis and spreading of best practice; fostering new products and services; encouraging local initiatives.

Crafts in the English Countryside was launched on 17 November at the Building Crafts College in Stratford, London. Griff Rhys Jones said then: "Everything we enjoy in our countryside has been created by craftsmen, from laid hedges to thatched roofs to dry stone walls. This study brings together history, technique and anecdote in one excellent volume. It will be a boon to anyone with an interest in the countryside and craftsmanship."

This 324-page report was produced with the backing of the Countryside Agency, The Duke of Cornwall\'s Benevolent Fund, The Ernest Cook Trust, the Headley Trust, the University of Reading and the Prince of Wales\'s Charitable Foundation.

Although the title might indicate a rosy look at rural crafts the report is not like that. It presents many realities, including levels of employment and skills shortages in hard figures.

Of course, stone working in various forms is a relatively small part of the report, but it is part of a major section that examines the skills needed for restoring and maintaining traditional homes.

The report examines attitudes affecting demand and includes comments like this one: "People who are not necessarily best qualified to do a job are employed for reasons other than skills shortages - ie often builders will employ their brickies on stone wall building because this is the quickest and cheapest option for them."

Margaret Clark, director of the Countryside Agency, who published the report, says: "This study fills an important gap in our knowledge about the scale and nature of the crafts which are so important to the English countryside.

"Social and economic change has transformed rural communities and economies and, with them, the role of traditional crafts. Many ancient crafts have been lost or barely survive. "However, the survey shows that the picture is by no means all gloom. The study highlights a growing interest in the crafts, often by those choosing new lifestyles and moving to the countryside to set up a crafts business.

Professor Ted Collins, author of the report, says: "The crafts sector appears to be in a better state of health than we thought at the start of the study.

"While this is encouraging, there are problems that need tackling. Some of the smaller crafts could disappear within a generation - they need identifying and recording for posterity."Another problem is the lack of appropriate training for the crafts sector. New initiatives and new ways of delivering training are urgently needed if rural crafts are to realise their full potential, or indeed to survive. This calls for investment, commitment and, most of all, imagination."

Putting it off: How lack of maintenance fails our heritage is available free on the Maintain Our Heritage website (see below). Hard copies are available from Timothy Cantell. Tel: 01225 482228. Email: see below. Crafts in the English Countryside: Towards a Future, ISBN 0-86170-689-7 is available, price £20 from Countryside Agency Publications, PO Box 125, Wetherby, West Yorkshire LS23 7EP. Tel: 0870 120 6466. Or can be ordered on the Countryside Agency website (see below)."