Housing Boost For Struggling Families

Developers will be asked to subsidise new houses in the Cairngorms National Park to keep some homes affordable, under plans revealed yesterday. The park authority aims to build 1,030 homes in the next five years to meet demand.

But because prices are beyond many young people and low-income families, it is proposing future developments include up to 50 per cent affordable houses. The park local plan – the blueprint for the area until 2012 – is the result of three years’ consultation and will be available from July for public comment.

The park covers 1,467 square miles and is home to 16,000 people. But the population is ageing, and second or holiday homes make up 20 per cent of the total housing stock, while there is a shortage of homes to rent in most communities. The number of houses in the social rented sector fell by 11 per cent between 1991 and 2001, and there are more than 1,000 people on council and housing association waiting lists.

The authority says it faces a dilemma as there is high demand for affordable housing but it is unlikely to attract enough public funding to build the number of houses needed. To tackle the problem, the plan proposes any development of two or more homes should incorporate affordable housing, both to buy and to rent.

Where public subsidy is available, the affordable housing element should be 50 per cent – compared with Highland Council’s 25 per cent requirement. Where there is no subsidy, the developer would have to provide all the affordable housing on site, to a target of 30 per cent.

Affordable housing is described as accommodation that is of a reasonable quality available to people who cannot afford to rent or buy houses on the open market without some form of subsidy.

Gavin Miles, the authority’s local plan policy officer, said this would require the builder to discount some houses to below market value and make them more within the reach of people’s incomes. The discount would remain on the property after any subsequent sale.

David Green, the park authority’s convener, said: “We need to try to make sure we have a percentage of rented affordable accommodation or serviced plots for low-cost houses. For young folk and people on low incomes, it’s difficult to talk about sustainable development unless you can provide more affordable housing.”

David Sutherland, chairman of the Tulloch Homes Group, added: “As the largest provider of affordable housing in the Highlands, we would find any innovative solution to assist greater provision welcome. Any initiative which involves restricting market forces in such a localised market as the Spey Valley would require serious evaluation.”