'Second homes' marketing tactic defended

8:59am Wednesday 14th May 2008

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A SOUTH Lakes building company has defended its decision to advertise properties in its new development as "ideal second homes" and investment opportunities.

Kendal Town Council expressed its disappointment after seeing an advert for Drysalters Yard - Russell Armer Homes' development off Ann Street in Kendal - which highlighted the fact that there were no local occupancy restrictions on a number of two and three-bedroom properties "at a time when the affordable housing need of local people is so great."

In a letter sent to The Citizen's sister newspaper, The Westmorland Gazette, and South Lakeland District Council (SLDC), councillors asked whether advertising in this manner was contrary to the council's planning policies.

In response, Andy Roe, development control officer at SLDC, said: "While noting and understanding Kendal Town Council's concerns, I can only confirm that the developers are entitled to advertise the properties for sale in this way. The planning application for the development was submitted prior to the council adopting the more recent and stricter policy stance, which requires all new housing on such sites to be for local occupancy and with 50 per cent to be for affordable housing.

"In this case, the proposal met the previous policy requirement in that 25 per cent of the units were for affordable housing and have been provided for Home Housing Association," he added.

Martyn Nicholson, managing director of Russell Armer Homes, said that the company felt as "strongly as anyone else" about the need for quality affordable homes and had been working closely with SLDC to find ways of delivering more properties of this kind throughout the district.

He said: "Our developments at Drysalters Yard, off Ann Street, and our other new Kendal development of apartments at Kentgate Place, by the River Kent, both incorporate significant numbers of affordable homes, as well as open market homes.

"Other Russell Armer Homes' developments have also been made solely available to people living and working in Kendal, such as recent projects in Windermere and Staveley."

However, Kendal town councillor Austen Robinson said: "At the end of the day, it doesn't seem to be a very moral thing to be advertising no local occupancy with the word no' in capital letters and underlined."