For sale – home you can't live in

Ragged Ray cottage has nestled beneath the white horse of Kilburn for around 150 years and with its original four walls, wooden windows and pantiled roof it still looks like a house.

But National Park planners say it isn't and will not give permission for anyone to live there because it has been empty for over half a century.

The best they can suggest is that the historic property be demolished and the stone sold for salvage.

Tired of arguing the toss, dairy farmers David and Henry Thompson have been forced to put the semi-derelict cottage up for auction with a knock-down guide price of between 30,000 and 40,000.

The brothers, whose family have owned the house and surrounding land since 1956, have been in talks with the park for over 15 years in an attempt to renovate the cottage.

It would have made the perfect home for David Thompson's son who works on the farm and can't afford a house in Kilburn. He has since had to move from the village he grew up in to find something more affordable in Thirsk.

"We tried but it's got to the point where it is either sell it or let it fall down," said David Thompson.

"We can't afford to fight the national park authority by employing planning consultants. We haven't got the money to risk.

"But it does seem ridiculous. It looks like a house. It is a house but the national park say it isn't. They say it is a former house.

"They told me they couldn't stop anyone from restoring it, but they wouldn't allow anyone to live in it. It's such a waste.

"It has access from the road, still has an inglenook fireplace, has mains water and is named on the ordnance survey map. It is part of the history of the village."

The cottage was originally built for the people who cared for common land, but has been uninhabited since the late 1940s.

"It was in reasonable order when we got it as part of the farm but we had no use for it then," said David Thompson.

"Property was cheap then and I remember my father having the chance to buy houses in the village but a house was about the same price as two cows and he'd rather spend money on two cows.

"Now farming is difficult and property prices are so high that both my sons and my niece and nephew have had to move away from the village because they can't afford to buy here."

Even with such issues Ragged Ray, with a name that remains a mystery, has sparked a stampede of would-be buyers.

Estate agent Robin Jessop has had over 1,000 calls about the perfectly-located cottage that is set in two-and-a-half acres.

"The price is attracting a lot of interest. We've even had someone from Holland who wants it, but we have been very, very clear about the planning issue," said Mr Jessop.

"It's a shame because if it had permission for use as a house it would be worth 200,000 to 250,000 even though it needs renovating."

North York Moors Chief Planning Officer Chris France said: "The issue is that the property is derelict and residential use has been abandoned. Most case laws put the time limit at 30 or 40 years.

"It's a shame for the owner but giving permission for someone to live there would be contrary to national planning policy.

"Some estates apply to re-use derelict upland cottages like this for their workers and they can argue there is a viable agricultural use, but in this case there isn't.

"Its only value is in the stone that could be sold for architectural salvage."

Mr Jessop believes the house may go to a wealthy individual who is prepared to take a gamble.

"It will probably go to someone who is willing to put up a fight or who is happy to sit it out for years and wait until planning policy changes."

n Ragged Ray is for sale by auction on Wednesday, September 1, at Solberge Hall Hotel, Newby Wiske, Northallerton.

Echoes of an earlier case

The case of Ragged Ray echoes that of Mire House, near Grassington.

Sue Woodcock, a retired police constable, bought the dilapidated property from a landowner in 2004 and moved in before the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority announced she had no right to live there.

It said the official use had changed from house to sheep shelter after being uninhabited for 60 years.

Planners said that allowing abandoned buildings to be reoccupied would mean a "gradual urbanisation" of the countryside.

She fought and finally won her appeal to renovate in 2007 – but had to wait another three years before establishing the legal right to live there.

On hearing about Ragged Ray, she said: "Whoever buys it has to be prepared for a huge battle. My advice to anyone with a romantic vision of living there is to leave it to someone well-off who can afford to take the risk."