North Yorkshire second homes and holiday lets are causing businesses and schools to close, mayor says
High numbers of second homes and holiday lets in parts of North Yorkshire are causing businesses, schools and GP surgeries to close, the mayor has said.
Speaking at a fringe event at Labour’s annual conference, York and North Yorkshire Mayor David Skaith said the two biggest challenges for his area are “housing and transport, and they are very much interlinked”.
In particular, the mayor was discussing the housing crisis in the rural and coastal areas of the county, where in some parts prices are 13 times the average salary.
A recent University of Liverpool study found that housing affordability is actually worse in rural areas, compared to urban centres.
“We’ve got a huge influx of second homes and holiday lets which are massively impacting our rural and coastal communities,” he said.
“In some of our coastal communities, there are far more holiday lets and second homes than there are actually local residents living there.
“This means local businesses close, it means schools close, GPs close - all these sort of negative things happen to our communities.”
In North Yorkshire, the Tory-run council has doubled council tax on second homes and holiday lets, to try and increase the housing stock for locals.
However, in the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors national parks it is still difficult to significantly expand the number of homes.
Currently, Yorkshire has the worst standard of private rented sector homes in the country, with a particular issue around rural houses.
“For too long we have not been investing in housing in areas like mine,” Mr Skaith continued.
“A lot of the quality of homes in our areas are not fit for standard.
“There are a lot of damp problems which have a huge impact on people’s health.”
The Labour Government has pledged to build 1.5 million homes by 2030.
To do this, it has introduced mandatory housing targets for councils and will allow more development on the Green Belt, provided it hits affordable housing quotas.
Research revealed that county and rural areas will see a dramatic increase in the number of houses built under the new mandatory targets.
The annual housing target for North Yorkshire has increased by 211 per cent under the new calculations - and that is higher than the target for Leeds.
However, Mr Skaith said: “It’s a challenge I’m willing to take on, as until we have enough homes for everyone it is never going to be good enough.
“We’re really trying to change the narrative that building homes in an area like ours is more difficult, is more challenging and is more expensive.
“To build three or four homes in a rural community or coastal town is just as important as building 3,000 homes in the centre of York.
“The positive impact it will have on that economy, it keeps those villages alive.
“It keeps people able to live in those villages, it keeps the schools open, it keeps the businesses open - we just need to do more.”