Second and holiday home ban for new builds approved

New houses built in the Yorkshire Dales National Park will not be allowed to be used as holiday lets or second homes under new plans

Rules to prevent new houses in the Yorkshire Dales from being used as holiday homes have been approved.

The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA) is proposing that any new housing must be used as the occupier's permanent residence.

According to the 2021 census, around 22% of up to 13,100 homes in the park area were either vacant, holiday lets or second homes.

Derek Twine, chairman of YDNPA, said that was an "exceptionally high level of under-occupied housing" when compared to a national average of 6%.

"Everyone would recognise that house building must be done particularly sensitively in a national park [and] we've worked hard to identify and allocate land for development," he said.

"What our Local Plan policy for permanent occupancy means is that on sites of two or more dwellings, new homes will be restricted to principal occupancy only.

"This will avoid loss to the holiday market and ensure that new homes are lived in by people who can be socially and economically active in local communities, which is what we need."

At a meeting at the YDNPA headquarters in Bainbridge on Tuesday, members agreed to submit the new Local Plan - which would run until 2040 - for approval to the government's Planning Inspectorate.

The authority also formally adopted a set of objectives for an updated management plan, which include an aim to reduce the proportion of so-called under-occupied homes in the park to fewer than 20% by 2031.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, it is hoped North Yorkshire Council's premium on council tax for second homes will work with the new occupancy restriction to help meet this target.

The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority headquarters in Bainbridge

The management plan aims to guide the work of all the organisations that operate in the national park during the next five years.

Mr Twine added: "The Yorkshire Dales National Park Management Plan is a genuine partnership plan.

"It sets out an ambitious – but necessary – programme of work to which many local organisations have committed their support.

"Whilst it rightly focuses on tackling the challenges of climate change and the continuing decline in nature, it also identifies other opportunities to foster the social and economic wellbeing of local communities, by setting out objectives for more affordable housing, hyper-fast broadband access, and support for viable farming businesses."

Mr Twine said he hoped that with each five-year review, the management plan would become more embedded in the culture of all organisations working in the park.

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