Rules relaxed on affordable housing

PEOPLE from the Peak District who bought a house outside the boundary of the national park could now be eligible for affordable housing back in their home parish.

The Peak District National Park Authority normally restricts affordable housing to people who have lived in the area for 10 out of the previous 20 years. Until now it has excluded people who have bought a house outside the national park, even if they qualify in every other way, but has now decided to relax that restriction.

John Herbert, chairman of the planning committee, said: "This will help local people who have bought a house outside the national park, perhaps for work or study, or simply to find a home they could afford.

"If they need to return to the national park, perhaps for family reasons or work, and could not afford to buy or rent on the open market, they now have a prospect of applying for an affordable home."