GOVERNMENT plans to make buying a second home more difficult have been cautiously welcomed by campaigners in South Lakeland where, it is claimed, the problem is crippling communities.

An inquiry commissioned by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, with the aim of tackling national housing shortages, will conclude that local planning authorities be given more power when it comes to stopping people buying country bolt-holes. It could also result in outsiders being banned from buying newly-built properties for the purpose of a second home.

The review, which is being carried out by Cornish MP Matthew Taylor and will be presented to the Prime Minsiter in July, will recommend that before second home seekers can purhcase a property they will have to gain special permission from the local authority - such as South Lakeland District Council or the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales national park authorities - to change its use from fully occupied to a second home.

It is hoped the move would give planners more power to "save" homes for locals and prevent high price tags, which local families often cannot afford.

But while campaigners have welcomed the inquiry, they have expressed fears that it will be too little, too late for South Lakeland which, according to the Department for Communities and Local Government, is among the UK's top ten country bolt-holes.

South Lakeland District councillor Kevin Lancaster, who represents the Sedbergh ward and also sits on the YDNPA, said 500 homes were needed in South Lakeland, and 245 in the Yorkshire Dales over the next five years and that the only solution was to build more houses.

For story in full, see the March 7 edition of The Westmorland Gazette.