“For every house we are building, we are losing three to second homes and holiday lets.”
This, along with “an explosion in Airbnbs” has become a priority problem for the North York Moors National Park (NYMNP), which says it is, “for the first time”, looking at expanding its villages with developments of housing on the outskirts to try and keep communities alive.
Declining services in villages, particularly schools, as well as local and younger people being priced out of the area’s housing market are threatening the viability of village life within the national park for future generations to come.
Speaking at Monday’s meeting of Whitby Community Network, Paul Fellows, Head of Strategic Planning at the NYMNP said the authority is now looking at building on the outskirts of villages to create affordable housing and convert existing buildings into suitable housing options.
A Call for Sites which can be examined for potential future developments has been opened by the NYMNP.
The findings will form part of an adopted Local Plan which sets out priorities for land use and development.
Mr Fellows said: “We are having to build a lot more houses than we would need to if we weren’t losing stock to second homes and holiday lets.
“The 2011 census figure for second homes was 17. 3 per cent. I think it has gone up and is about 19 per cent now and there has been an explosion in Airbnbs.
“We have a problem in terms of services declining, particularly schools. Seven in the national park are at less than half capacity. They include Goathland and Egton Bridge and there is a real question over the viability of those in the future.”
Within the NYMNP area, the average wage is £49,700 and take home pay £3,000, but the average house price is £389,000 and above the income threshold for a manageable mortgage, he told the meeting.
Fifty-five per cent of local people are unable to afford to buy a house in the area they live, he added.
Mr Fellow said: “Since we did our last plan we have got more people unable to afford a house without help.”
“We are doing a call for sites so if you know of any in villages or on the edge of villages for houses in the national park, we would like to know about them.
“We are actively exploring where we need to allocate sites within the villages for the first time. Brown field we are interested in and existing houses that can be converted.
“We are starting to get to the point where people are really struggling in terms of affordable housing so we have got to be a bit more ambitious.”
The NYMNP says the submission of a site doesn’t guarantee it will be allocated or granted planning permission.
It says it is also unlikely to proceed with sites which are isolated from existing settlements, encroach into open countryside, create visually prominent or intrusive development, harm landscape character and biodiversity or heritage assets, lead to unsustainable patterns of development.
The deadline for site submission is November 30, 2026.
