‘Park house prices more than locals can afford’

HOUSE PRICES in National Parks across England and Wales are £121,383 more expensive on average than properties in surrounding counties, a new report has found.

Lloyds Bank, which looked at 12 national parks, found the biggest premium was in the New Forest, where homes typically cost £342,830 more than average house prices in the surrounding county.

The smallest premium was found in Snowdonia, where homes cost £4,374 more than those in the surrounding area on average.

Lloyds found the average cost of a home in a national park is 11.6 times local average gross annual earnings – compared with an average multiple of 7.8 times earnings across the whole of England and Wales generally.

In North Yorkshire, which is home to both the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors National Parks, the average house price in 2016/17 was £244,690, according to the National Housing Federation’s latest Home Truths study.

Mean annual earnings, however, were £26,130.

Andrew Mason, mortgages director at Lloyds Bank, said: “National Parks offer a unique opportunity to live in some of the most desirable parts of the country, and often come with strict rules designed to protect their beauty and heritage for many years to come.

“However, this comes at a cost to home buyers who will need to pay considerably more to put roots down in these locations.

“With such a significant gap between local earnings and property prices, people who want to live and work locally may face a considerable challenge to buy their own home.”

Lloyds Bank used Land Registry house price data and Office for National Statistics earnings figures to make the findings.