Why the Boxing Day property rush exposes rural Yorkshire’s housing shortage - Sally Ormiston
Boxing Day has become an unlikely fixture in the property calendar. While many of us are enjoying leftover turkey, millions are looking for a new home.
Year after year, Rightmove data consistently shows Boxing Day as its busiest day for property searches, fuelled by a ‘New Year, New Home’ mindset with buyer traffic often doubling normal daily levels.
As families reassess space and first-time buyers dream of getting a foothold on the ladder, rural living continues to hold enormous appeal. But once the search begins, many quickly run into a hard truth - finding an affordable home in rural Yorkshire is increasingly difficult.
Choice is limited, prices are high and rental options are shrinking. This is especially challenging for younger people and working families who want to stay close to where they grew up, and home ownership can be an increasingly distant aspiration.
Availability of rental property is constrained thanks to a high proportion of second homes and holiday rentals. Rural housing stock is typified by traditional stone-built houses, which are expensive to maintain and have low energy performance ratings, adding a further cost on top of the already high rents.
Ongoing tenancy law reforms and tighter energy efficiency standards are increasing landlord costs and are likely to further reduce rental supply as smaller landlords exit the market.
Historically, rural estates were one of the region’s major suppliers of affordable rental properties. Almshouses, such as those provided by the Escrick Park Estate in the 18th century, were early forms of affordable housing, built by landowners to support local people. Today estates like Castle Howard and Bolton Abbey rent out many residential properties, often at well below market rates.
Maintaining that ethos in a modern context is not without challenge. Estate landlords face growing pressure from maintenance costs and energy retrofitting, and for those with large residential portfolios, these rising costs make it increasingly difficult to offer homes at affordable rents.
Add to this the impact of property tax changes, and many estates are facing difficult decisions. Selling estate cottages is an option, and while some may worry it will impact the social fabric of the estate, it could release some appealing homes to the open market but, also risks reducing the supply of affordable rented housing in rural communities and seeing properties lie empty.
Estates and landowners can play a vital role in housing supply; converting redundant barns and buildings into homes, refurbishing estate cottages for affordable rent, or partnering with housing associations and community land trusts to deliver new affordable homes that meet local needs.
The contribution of rural estates to the housing needs of the region should not be underestimated, and with those searching for a home feeling like the odds are stacked against them, local authorities could do worse than think creatively about how these long-term landowners can build on their legacy as providers of homes in rural Yorkshire.
Sally Ormiston is director at Rural Solutions. ruralsolutions.co.uk