Home ownership ‘still a dream’ despite falling property prices

Property costs in the North York Moors National Park had increased in recent years after weathering the financial storm that has engulfed the UK economy and caused the price of homes elsewhere in the country to fall.

But an annual housing survey has revealed the average price of a home in the national park fell by 9.5 per cent from £267,690 to £242,385 in the past financial year.

The park authority’s managers told the Yorkshire Post, however, that the hope of owning a property in the North York Moors still remains a distant possibility for the majority of house-hunters. Wages in Ryedale average less than £16,500-a-year - the lowest in the region and below the national average.

The park authority’s policy manager, Sarah Housden, said: “We are acutely aware that more needs to be done to address the issue of affordable housing in the national park. The hope of owning a home remains extremely difficult for the majority of people in the area.

“We are doing all we can to get more affordable homes built, but it is a balancing act to ensure that we protect the character of the national park. The numbers we are hoping to achieve are small, and in many people’s eyes they may appear like a drop in the ocean. However, even a small number of homes can make a very real difference to rural communities.”

A lack of affordable homes is seen as perhaps the biggest threat to rural areas as young families who are unable to get on the property ladder are being driven out, with the rural demographics now slanting heavily towards an ageing population.

Housing schemes in national parks are small scale to ensure they do not impinge on the landscapes, but there has nonetheless been a 50 per cent fall in the number of new homes being built or existing buildings being converted in the North York Moors.

Mrs Housden maintained the fall is due to a spike in the number of homes being completed in 2011/12. A management plan for the national park has set out a target of 15 affordable homes being built each year.

The annual housing study showed 28 residential dwellings were completed of which just 12 were classed as affordable homes in the past financial year - a significant fall on the 55 units finished in the previous 12 months. The completed properties in 2012/13 included 20 new-build homes and eight existing buildings being converted.

While house prices in the North York Moors National Park have fallen significantly in the last financial year, the cost of property in the region actually increased by one per cent and by 1.7 per cent nationally.

But the authority’s planning policy officer, Caroline Skelly, stressed the North York Moors, which remains one of the most desirable locations to live in Yorkshire, had been largely isolated up until now from the property slump seen elsewhere. And house prices are predicted to rise in the coming months with improved mortgage lending and the Government launching initiatives to stimulate the property market, such as the Help to Buy scheme.

The Yorkshire Post revealed on Wednesday that concerns are growing after population numbers in national parks have stagnated as young people and families are unable to afford homes or leave to pursue careers elsewhere in the country. The population in the North York Moors fell by 500 to 23,400 between 2001 and 2011, while the figure for the Peak District has remained constant at 37,900.

The Yorkshire Dales National Park’s population rose by just 100 between 2001 and 2011 to 19,800, compared with a 1,154 rise in the previous decade. But the number of children aged up to 14 living in the national park fell by 16 per cent from 2001 to 2011.

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