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07
Oct
Is tourism hindering affordable housing in Nidderdale?
The Stray Ferret has been looking into a shortage of affordable housing and long-term rentals in and around Pateley Bridge, which has been blamed on an increasing number of holiday lets.
This is the first article in a four-part series. Today, we hear from a Pateley Bridge employee and the town's mayor.
There are few places more idyllic than Nidderdale so it is little wonder it attracts so many tourists. But is the number of holiday lets catering for the influx of tourists seriously hindering the affordable housing market?
At the time of publication, Rightmove showed just six properties available as long-term rentals within three miles of Pateley Bridge.
Labour could set North Yorkshire's housing target to more than 4,000 a year, which would leave little room for excuses about a lack of affordable homes.
The Stray Ferret has been investigating the shortage of affordable housing and rental properties available in Pateley Bridge and surrounding villages, which has been attributed to the booming holiday let market by one local man.
George Collinson
George Collinson, a barista at Wildish Coffee on Pateley Bridge's High Street, moved to Nidderdale from North Wales with his fiancé last year.
His fiancé was due to start at master's degree in York, so the couple opted for a more rural place to live. George said:
I’d say we got quite lucky with finding our cottage, but that’s because it’s so rural. It’s not in Pateley, it’s in Fellbeck, and, honestly, it’s barely even in Fellbeck.
That’s the only reason we can afford it because of the location. It doesn’t have great WIFI, we get snowed in, we get power cuts – it’s so remote. But it was the only property that was actually available at the time. There was nothing else online, especially in our budget.
George told the Stray Ferret he and his fiancé were not – and are still not – in a position to buy a property when moving here, adding:
The house prices are insane; there’s no stepping stone. I don't really think there is a rental market here at all.
‘Holiday lets don’t bring repeat business’
It is no secret that Pateley Bridge is a tourist hotspot. But George feels the growing number of holiday properties could be contributing the shortage of long-term rentals.
We all know it’s a beauty spot and that obviously drives business to Pateley. But it does only drive it during certain times of the year.
The holiday lets don’t bring repeat business. Someone that lives here all year round may not spend as much as tourists do in a short period, but they put more into the local economy over time.
We asked George what he feels would remedy the availability and affordability issues. He told the Stray Ferret:
It would be nice to see a cap on the number of properties dedicated to being holiday lets. That way there would then be a percentage of properties for sale or rent, which could give younger people the opportunity to rent here too.
On the topic of young people, the Stray Ferret asked George if he feels the apparent lack of housing is driving young people out of the area. He said:
Absolutely. There’s a lack of young people in Pateley Bridge, as well as a call for workers, but you can’t have workers unless they have somewhere to live.
That’s why I cite the number of holiday lets; once you drop the number of holiday lets, it would open up more properties to take that step to move out of home, rent and work.
‘95% of opportunities are for tourists’
The Stray Ferret asked George how maintaining the tourism economy, while prioritising those living and working in the area, could be attained.
He said it is about “finding that goldilocks”, adding:
Unfortunately, I think places like Air BnB and Booking.com allow for luxury accommodation, but there are more than enough caravan parks or campsites – the other kinds of holidaying – here.
I don’t want the luxury side to be scrapped, but we need to find a balance of both.
Currently, it feels like 95% of opportunities are for tourists, and 5% for residents who want to live here. It needs to be brought down to allow for a shift, so people are able to move here, or just outside of Pateley, and be able to contribute to the community.
I think that could be achieved by capping the number of holiday lets.
We asked George if he and his fiancé would stay in the area long-term, given his concerns about the housing market.
He told us he doesn't think it would an option:
There’s not loads of opportunity for young people and if we were to find a rental property in Pateley, we’d be sacrificing the money we’re trying to save to one day buy a property.
There are no real opportunities for us to find a better property than we already have – and we’re so remote. It’s turned our eyes elsewhere to move away, which is a real shame because we love it here.
Mayor Chris Thompson
‘We don’t want Pateley Bridge to become a chocolate box’
The Stray Ferret also spoke to Chris Thompson, mayor of Pateley Bridge.
We put George’s concerns to Mr Thompson and asked how the lack of affordable homes and shortage of long-term rentals could be tackled. He said:
One of our [Pateley Town Council] councillors once said, ‘we don’t want Pateley Bridge to become a chocolate box'.
We’re an agricultural, working community, as well as a tourism industry. Both are valuable to the town.
But we can’t just let it become a chocolate box tourist town where people are staying in what was our school, or what was our post office. A place where a select number of traders benefit but the majority don’t.
Like George, the mayor said a balance needs to be struck. But he felt it is the government's job to tackle housing availability and affordability.
I think it needs central government legislation to set some rules in place and strike the balance.
North Yorkshire Council needs the funding – and the will – to build more social housing, rather than just refurbishing what they’ve got.
Things like covenants built into the sale of affordable housing, which mean it would stay as affordable housing for residents, rather than the property being sold at market value and then rented out. Or, if it was rented, it should be rented to local people.
A scheme to prioritise housing for those that grow up in and around Pateley Bridge would also help, the mayor added, and felt it would be possible “with the will to do so”.
Statistics
The Stray Ferret submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) Request to North Yorkshire Council to find out how many properties were listed as short-term rentals over a five-year period.
According to the FOI response, there were just 47 properties listed as holiday lets within three miles of Pateley Bridge between January 1, 2019, and June 2024.
But Air BnB showed more than 100 properties available within a few miles of Pateley Bridge at the time of publication, which paints a very different picture.
Sykes Cottages listed 16 properties within the same radius, while Vrbo showed more than 50 available around Pateley Bridge, Glasshouses and Bewerley.
The Stray Ferret asked all of three of these providers about the level of demand for stays in the area, as well as the number of holiday lets listed within the same range as the FOI. We did not receive a response from any of them.
As part of our FOI request, the Stray Ferret also asked the council for the number of residential rental properties – not listed as holiday lets – within the same radius of Pateley Bridge.
The council said 1,108 properties were listed as residential rental properties over the five-year period. It added the data is based on the parish council, which includes “slightly wider than the three-mile geographic limit” than requested.
But the figure does not reflect the current market, which appears to be very limited.
In part two of the series tomorrow, we speak with the owner of a holiday home. What would you like to see done? Tell us in the comment section below.
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