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08
Oct 2024
Holiday home owner blames Nidderdale affordable housing shortage on ‘successive government failures’
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 second article in a four-part series. Today, we speak to a holiday-let owner.
The owner of a holiday home has denied the tourism industry is usurping the housing market in and around Pateley Bridge.
Yesterday, the Stray Ferret heard from George Collinson, who struggled to find a rental property when he moved to the area last year. Mr Collinson attributed the acute lack of long-term rentals and affordable homes in the town to an increasing number of holiday lets.
The Stray Ferret asked the owner of a Pateley Bridge holiday home whether he shared Mr Collinson’s opinion and his reasoning.
The man wished to remain anonymous, as he said he felt the subject is “complex”. He told the Stray Ferret he has been a landlord for many years and owns holiday lets, buy-to-let properties and houses of multiple occupancy. He said:
I have a reasonably good knowledge of the rental market.
[At the time of writing] a quick look on Rightmove shows just three available properties within a one-mile radius of Pateley Bridge, all at rents well in excess of £1,000 per month.
There is clearly a shortage of affordable rented accommodation in and around the town.
The man told the Stray Ferret he bought the property eight years ago, when holiday accommodation was in “short supply” and there was “still plenty of conventional rental property available”.
“The property we bought had been on the market for two years with no takers, and we invested a significant sum into improvements”, he adds.
The landlord said the demand for holiday lets has increased hugely in big cities and tourist hotspots, which he attributed partly to covid restrictions, during which overseas travel was put on hold for several months.
But he felt the increase has had significant benefits to Pateley Bridge and Nidderdale:
Pateley Bridge and Nidderdale in general have enjoyed the economic benefits of the tourism boom, and what better place to stay to enjoy the dales than this?
As a consequence, the number of holiday lets right across the Yorkshire Dales has increased, furthered by the growth of online booking platforms such as Air BnB.
This brings with it significant benefits to the local shops, pubs, restaurants, tearooms and cafés, visitor attractions etc, plus (indirectly) cleaning and laundry services. All of these bring employment opportunities to the area.
But the landlord acknowledged the holiday let market could be becoming overcrowded in Nidderdale:
Since we bought the property, government policy has meant landlords are looking for better returns on their investment and holiday lets offer a more attractive option.
However, I think there is now an over-supply of holiday accommodation in the Pateley and Nidderdale area and it's noticeable that there are several holiday lets up for sale.
Despite acknowledging the increase in tourists and holiday lets, the landlord felt attributing it to the lack of long-term rentals was “misleading”. He said:
The main reason for the lack of affordable housing right across the country is the failure of successive governments to implement a proper house building programme to meet demand, especially for low-cost housing in rural areas.
The medium-to-long term solution is for the government and local authorities to incentivise housebuilders to build more affordable housing for local people in rural areas.
Labour’s planning reforms
This series comes at a crucial time for the housing sector – both locally and nationally.
North Yorkshire Council is currently in the process of drawing up a new local plan, following the formation of the unitary authority last year, which will set out where new houses and commercial developments can be built in the region over the next 15 to 20 years.
A call for sites to be earmarked for new homes closed in June and the council aims to adopt the new plan by 2028.
But Labour’s ambitious planning reforms have delayed the process slightly, which you can read about here.
Conservative MP Julian Smith, who holds the Skipton and Ripon seat, recently urged the government to reconsider plans to increase North Yorkshire's housing target. If it goes ahead, the council would need to deliver more than 4,000 homes across the county every year.
But regardless of the target set, the real question is: would it alleviate Nidderdale's affordable housing woes?
For the third part of this series tomorrow, the owner of Glasshouses Mill talks about the difficulties of building affordable housing.
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