Airbnbs in the Peak District are preventing residents from getting on the housing ladder councillors say

The increasing dominance of holiday lets such as Airbnbs in the Peak District is preventing residents from getting a foot on the housing ladder, councillors claim.

A Derbyshire Dales District Council meeting this month featured a discussion over the future of an historic home, which was gifted to the authority. 

It will be sold due to the cost of repairs and money from the sale will be used to build affordable housing in the Dales, ideally, near the property in Over Haddon.

It sparked a debate about the plight faced by Peak District villagers trying to buy houses in their local area.

The council detailed that of the 110 households in Over Haddon, just south of Bakewell, 21 homes are holiday lets and eight are second homes.

Councillors pointed to alleged problems with people from “down south” buying up properties in the Peak District either as second homes or holiday lets.

Cllr Peter O’Brien, who represents Hathersage ward, said: “We from local villages like Over Haddon are constantly approached by residents appreciating the work the council does to support the provision of affordable rented housing but pointing out that there is no further rung on the ladder. 

“If you want to move onto the ladder to move on from your first social rented house to acquire a modest terraced house you cannot do it because every time a property of this nature comes on the market it is someone from the more affluent normally southern areas of the country that acquires it. 

“People from the locality in Derbyshire are simply priced out of the market and this is a very small but sensitive way that we can demonstrate as a council that we understand that problem and we are doing something about it.”

Cllr Peter Slack, a Wirksworth councillor, said: “If this (house in Over Haddon) was on the market somebody would be on it straight away from down south and buy it up and then it would become a holiday let and that’s another one gone. It is constantly happening in our village on and on and on.”

The council agreed to sell the Over Haddon house but with restrictions that it cannot be used as a holiday let and that only people with a Derbyshire connection through either residence or work can seek to buy the property for the first three months it is advertised for sale.

It hopes to make £175,000 from the sale of the home, or up to £220,000, and £10,000 of the profits would be given to Over Haddon Parish Council for local improvements.

The home is said to need £120,000 in improvements but this would not bring it up to modern standards for energy efficiency.

Cllr Marilyn Franks, who represents Darley Dale: “I was a bit shocked when I saw the figures. Over a quarter of the properties in this small village are now second homes and holiday lets, no doubt Airbnbs. 

“People with money, making money. And really this is happening throughout the Peak District National Park. Village after village. 

“The village I was born in the same thing has happened. 

“I get really quite annoyed about what I would think of as modern-day clearances basically in the Peak District National Park. There aren’t enough people living in the Peak District National Park to look after these holiday homes. 

“People are being bussed in from Sheffield to do the domestic changeovers. We have got to find a way of turning this around, putting reasonably priced homes and some of these terraced cottages back in the hands of local people, young local people, providing them with starter homes, making those opportunities. 

“Alongside that, we have also got to seriously think about employment opportunities in the peak park, for local people, local residents and not just those associated with tourism like cleaning jobs and catering jobs on minimum pay. We have got to try somehow to improve the lot of local people throughout the Dales but particularly in the Peak District National Park.”

Cllr Martin Burfoot, a Matlock councillor, said there were 40 properties in Brassington which are being used as holiday lets, which was proving an “annoying” situation for residents.

He said: “Quite a few of the viable properties for younger people are disappearing.

“That sort of thing is not acceptable because younger people are not finding properties to buy or even to rent in that village.”

Cllr Gareth Gee said the property in Over Haddon was not large enough for a family home so lent itself to becoming a holiday home. 

He said: “It would be more logical to sell this to the highest bidder without any restrictions. If we get £220,000 for this we could put it towards affordable housing in a more swift manner. Do you really think you are going to find someone local who has £180,000 to buy it and then face another bill of £120,000, a total bill of £300,000? I just don’t think so.”