Major national park to ban second homes and holiday lets

A plan to ban the building of new holiday lets and second homes is being proposed by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA) and will affect as many as 11 Yorkshire villages.

Backlash

It is part of a growing backlash against holiday and second homes, especially in holiday hotspots, which is being driven by councils and local authorities across the UK.

As reported in The Neg, many are now hiking council tax for second homes, some by as much as 300%, as well as bringing in changes to planning rules to restrict the growth of holiday lets.

YDNPA’s proposal will be discussed as part of its wider planning policies that will guide developments in the park for the next 15 years. It will then undergo formal public consultation early next year. There are currently 23 local sites and 366 planned new homes that could be affected.

Conditional occupancy

Their locations include Airton, Bolton Abbey, Carperby, Grassington, Hawes, Horton-in-Ribblesdale, Long Preston, Nateby, Newbiggin-on-Lune, Orton and Sedbergh.

The plan is to introduce a principal occupancy condition for all new homes, which will ensure they are permanently occupied rather than used as second homes or holiday lets.

The YDNPA says it will ‘bolster the development of the rural economy and place a greater emphasis on climate change and nature recovery.’

And Richard Foster, YDNPA member champion for sustainable development, adds: “I would like to thank members of the public and all the organisations and businesses that have fed into the development of this new local plan, which will undergo a final and more formal stage of consultation early next year before being submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for examination”.