‘Rural communities at risk unless housing crisis tackled’

THE FABRIC of rural communities is under threat unless the affordable housing crisis is tackled senior figures have warned – as new figures have revealed the soaring cost of homes in National Parks, .

The chairman of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, Coun Carl Lis, voiced his frustrations as new research published today revealed that the average cost of buying a home in the area had reached £307,270 – 33 per cent higher than the national average.

The research, by estate agents Benham and Reeves, showed house prices in the Dales even out-ranked its “friendly-rival” the Lake District, where the average house cost £268,893 – 16 per cent more than the £231,855 national average.

Coun Lis called on developers and land owners to stop “landbanking”

and act on the planning permission that had been granted for some 600 homes in the park’s boundaries where work had not started, and said the Government needed to introduce new legislation that forced action.

“Young people, to be frank, are desperate for affordable housing,” he said. “The price of £307,000 is way out of reach of local young people.

“We have 600 applications that have permission and are waiting to be built. We need developers, and the Government, to do something about it. Unless something changes, our communities as we know them are going to disappear. Without young people, the schools close, as we have already seen, and local services cannot be justified. It would be awful, in years to come, if this generation were to blame for their demise.”

The Conservative MP for

Thirsk and Malton, Kevin Hollinrake, who worked in the property sector for 30 years before being elected in 2015, said it was “no surprise at all” that housing in the Dales ranked so expensively.

He added that a simplified planning process was needed to make it “slicker and faster” for developers and therefore increase the number of affordable homes being built.

Mr Hollinrake added: “You feel for the community, really, the young people and families in particular who are finding it very difficult to stay in their local area – which is bad for society and bad for Dales, as we don’t want it to become a place full of second homes.”

Earlier this year, Craven had the highest numbers of people of waiting list for affordable rented housing and shared ownership – 386 and 170 respectively.

Craven District Council’s leader Richard Foster said work was under way with developers to bring forward affordable homes schemes and community-led housing projects were also being undertaken.

Last year, £200,000 was earmarked to bring empty homes back into use in Craven.

Coun Foster said: “To make a real difference to rural communities, the Government needs to prioritise affordable housing, and give councils the powers and the funding to provide more homes for people who need them.”

Housing prices in the Dales were ranked third highest for 15 National Parks, behind the New Forest and South Downs.

Property in the Peak District was priced at an average of £265,955, 15 per cent about the national average. Of all the region’s National Parks, the North York Moors was most affordable, where the average house price was £234,061, just one per cent above the national average.