A “breakthrough” planning restriction developed by a Cumbrian housing trust could enable homeowners in the Lake District and beyond to ensure their home remains occupied by people living locally forever.
Lakeland Housing Trust has spent the last two years working with solicitors, a barrister and Lake District National Park Authority planners to develop a restriction which people can choose to register with the Land Registry against the title of their property.
The restriction, technically known as a Section 106 Unilateral Undertaking, will be registered in the Land Charges register against the property, meaning their home can only ever be used as a principal residence or as a rental property with a 12-month minimum term and not as a second home, holiday let or Airbnb.
It will be up to the Lake District National Park planning authority to ensure this remains the case for properties where the restriction has been applied.
Founded in 1937, Lakeland Housing Trust owns over 50 properties across the South Lakes, with the aim of providing affordable rental homes for people living and working in the local community.
In the last seven years it has grown from having 36 properties to 53, many of them bequeathed to the charity in legacies or which it has bought using money people have left in their wills.
It has also built some homes in recent times, including in Grasmere and Sawrey.
Although the Section 106 restriction will not benefit the trust directly, Malcolm Tillyer, who stood down as chair in June, says it fulfils its purpose of providing a wider pool of affordable housing in the national park.
“I've met quite a lot of people who I know have left properties to us in their wills and for the majority of those people it is pretty much the same story,” says Malcolm.
"They love the local area and they can't bear the thought of their house being a second home. They've got children, but the children are independent, or they haven't got children at all, so they leave their property to us.”
If people did leave a property to their children they would often sell it and, in the national park, this would usually see it become a second home or holiday let.
“This gives people the option to leave that home to their children and those children can sell it, but it will still remain a local occupancy property,” says Malcolm.
As well as keeping properties locally occupied the trust estimates a Section 106 will also reduce its saleable value by around 10 per cent, making it more affordable at the same time.
So far one Section 106 has been applied to one of Lakeland Housing Trust’s properties but could be applied to many more in the area, as well as those outside the region in England and Wales.
"If it was accepted by the planning authorities that in a particular area outside of the national park there was still an issue of affordability for local people there is nothing to stop this being put in place,” says Malcolm.
Chris Batten, who is replacing Malcolm as chair of the trust, says it is a real “breakthrough” in the much-discussed problem of creating affordable homes for local people in the Lake District.
"If you've got children, it's quite a big ask to leave your entire property to the trust," says Chris.
"For people who've been involved in village life and believe that's important, it's a great way to ensure that your house will go to a young couple.”
Trustee Richard Dobson, who has played a key role in developing the Section 106, says it is already attracting interest.
“There's a general pull because it does offer a solution,” he says.
The trust’s properties are rented to tenants at around 40 per cent below the private market rate, subject to conditions such as living in the local area, means testing and what they contribute to the community.
The majority of residents are younger people or families, working in a wide range of sectors including hospitality, farming, nursing and various trades.
“Think of all the people you need to make a local community work but who aren’t very well paid,” says Chris.
As well as providing homes, Malcolm says the trust’s housing also keeps communities alive in places where so many houses are only occupied by tourists or visitors.
"We're able to have properties in the little hamlets and the villages that are unlikely to have new build properties,” he says.
“So by doing that, we're able to keep those villages alive.”
The trust is overseen by a board of 14 trustees with day-to-day management of its properties overseen by H&H Land and Estates.
The organisation has been putting an increasing focus on its marketing to grow awareness of the work it does, as well as maintaining the upkeep and quality of its stock.
This has included improving energy efficiency and upgrading features such as double glazing.
"If people are thinking of leaving us their greatest asset, they've got to be absolutely confident in us as an organisation that we will look after their property,” says Malcolm.
"Now we are going to carry on pushing forward and trying to carry on growing.”
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