“Nick Chase from ACRE said: “This change would have a catastrophic effect on the numbers of affordable houses coming forward for local communities.
“It also flies in the face of allowing local communities to take responsibility for the numbers and types of houses that they want.” The organisation wants villages with a population of less than 3000 to be exempt.”
For the first time the heads of all ten National Parks in England have come together to personally sign a letter to the government. It says the measure “puts at risk” their affordable housing supply.
Ghost towns and villages
They believe that in rural areas, the open market is already failing to provide enough homes that people on average salaries can buy or rent.
According to Chief Executive of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, leaving housing purely to the open market will lead to “ghost towns and villages“.
A developer went on to say:
” …many people didn’t want to buy or rent a house next to a social tenant. To get permission to build eight homes on a site, his company recently had to make one an affordable home. “There’s an issue of saleability. Sales on either side of the social house were at a reduced price because of the stigma attached,” he explained.
East Devon Watch 