A working couple are facing homelessness or renting as far away as Northumberland after being squeezed out by the housing crisis in Eden.
In five weeks, self-employed Justin and Dan Brown, are leaving Bampton Village Shop and Cafe, near Shap, and its tied accommodation.
Yet in their six-month search for somewhere suitable and affordable, they have been forced to look as far as Alnwick and Hexham, and have faced every kind of hurdle, including:
- Airbnb holiday lets killing the local rental market
- Unaffordable rents of up to £1,200 per month in some properties
- Massive queues of people chasing rentals
- Blanket letting agency rules forbidding dogs, narrowing their options
Justin, 52, said: “We have always worked and paid taxes — me in the hospitality and catering sector and Dan is retired as a professional in the NHS. While it’s been a lovely experience in Bampton, we can’t commit to the business any longer for health reasons.
“We can pay our way in life but can’t pay more than £850 a month, but the rental market in Cumbria and the Lake District is absolutely fried.”
The pair have to be out of their flat in mid-April, having made the difficult decision last August to leave the business. It also offers self-catering accommodation and a post office counter, until the latter was axed by Post Office bosses.
The pair are now talking to Eden Council about homelessness and spoke out to raise alarm about the issue facing local people.
They said: “This issue is not just about us but an issue affecting lots of people.”
Dan, 41, is registered disabled after being seriously injured by a drunk driver in 2012, the couple said.
He has complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and also post traumatic stress disorder, and needs a walking stick, an assistance dog and, on bad days, a wheelchair.
Justin said: “Any property to rent hardly ever says pets permitted and when it does say pets by permission or negotiation, you quickly realise you are one of about 25 applicants looking at the property, and the vendor will always favour people without dogs.
“This is our home and where our friends are and where Dan’s treatment pathways are between Penrith and Carlisle hospitals. We are not being picky — we just have dogs.”
While the Bampton business had been well supported, Justin had been left “exhausted”.
Like other Lake District businesses, they have faced a headache finding staff to lighten the load — not helped by the lack of local housing for those on low incomes.
Bampton has at least 24 second homes and 18 holiday lets, with the national park conceding there could be even more.
The peaks and troughs of tourism have also meant Justin sometimes working seven days a week, as well as winter days when business can be a trickle, not making it financially viable, they said.
After the pandemic, residents and holidaymakers have increasingly turned to home deliveries, Justin said.
Justin believes landlords are understandably quitting the private rental sector in favour of Airbnb because there are no minimum standards — meaning they don’t need to comply with costly regulations around heating or insulation.
MP Tim Farron, who has been raising the affordable homes issue in Parliament, said: “From Bampton to Brough, housing is by far and away the biggest issue that comes up when I’m knocking on doors.
“It’s appalling that our communities are littered with houses stood empty for most of the year, while local people and families struggle to afford a home of their own.
“On a national level, I am lobbying the Government to give Westmorland and Furness Council more powers to limit the number of second homes and Airbnbs in local communities.”
The national park authority has said that 25 per cent of housing stock in the Lakes has no permanent residents, and in some honeypots the figure is far higher.
