Good ideas to head off housing crisis MOST people have an ambition to own a home of their own. As a nation we want to be able to put down roots, and being able to claim our own bricks and mortar is an important part of that.

Home ownership is also the glue that binds together our communities, helping rural areas to flourish as young families settle in a village and raise their children.

For several years now, many people who live and work in the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales and the surrounding areas, have become aware that for them and others like them, the dream of home ownership is likely to stay just that.

The problem now appears to be reaching a crisis point. Unemployment in South Lakeland remains ridiculously low at around one per cent and yet, with the demise of traditionally high-paid jobs in insurance, manufacturing and other sectors, salaries are being suppressed.

The ‘equity gap’ between what people earn, and the lowest house prices in their area, is becoming ever larger.

The indications are that real damage is being caused to communities as young people are priced out of the area. School rolls fall, and villages start to become sleepy retirement hamlets rather than living communities.

Any initiative that can help tackle this pernicious problem is, therefore, to be welcomed and it is perhaps indicative of how urgent the situation has become that three grassroots ideas have emerged at the same time.

In the Yorkshire Dales, a businessman concerned at what he was witnessing in his own area, has launched an idea to encourage people to put surplus cash into an investment trust that would potentially help young couples to buy a home they could otherwise not afford.

Duddon Parish Council has produced an innovative plan to encourage householders to put a restrictive clause on their own home, ensuring it could be sold only to local people.

South Lakeland District Council is also encouraging people to get involved by identifying and reporting back on any land or buildings that might provide an affordable homes opportunity.

All these schemes are commendable although they all rely, to a greater or lesser extent, on people’s goodwill. There is no compulsion involved, although forcing people to live their lives in a particular way would not necessarily provide an answer.

On the Channel Island of Jersey, for example, there are highly restrictive laws forcing people who move to the island to be resident for 17 years before being allowed to purchase or even rent a home.

However, this is not the panacea that it might at first appear, as the average price of a property for a first time buyer is £300,000.

The answer could lie in a co-ordinated approach drawing together the good ideas produced by communities, local authorities and the business sector. One person or team could be charged with addressing the whole issue to produce effective policies.

Then many more people might be able to fulfil their dream of a home of their own – while helping communities survive and thrive.