New social and affordable housing at The View in Keswick

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A room with a view – and some!

Steve Heywood

Steve Heywood, media manager

A group of people have become among some of the luckiest social housing residents in the country.

The privileged few have moved into their new homes, which boast some of the best views in England.

They have moved into the appropriately named The View, on the outskirts of Keswick, in the Lake District.

The new social homes look over the beautiful Bassenthwaite valley, with the ‘Lord’s Seat’ in the distance. And if that wasn’t enough, behind their homes is the monumental Skiddaw.

What’s more, these are affordable homes for local people wanting to stay in the area who are generally priced out by second home buyers.

That is why these homes have a local occupancy requirement on them to stop the second home issue, which is blighting the county.

Housing association Home Group, which owns or manages 10,000 homes in Cumbria, has made four of the 11 homes built available for affordable rent while two are being offered for shared ownership. The other five are being sold by Cumbria based developers Atkinsons.

Home Group’s properties are all two bedroomed, with a specification uplift for the shared ownership homes.

The homes, which were part funded by the Homes England Strategic Partnership scheme, are in the Underskiddaw area and sit on a former garden centre about two miles from Keswick town centre.

Elsa Brailey, head of development and delivery at Home Group, said: “The views from these homes are fantastic and those customers who have moved here are very lucky.

“But what is more important is that these people are from the area or work in the area and have spent a long time in here, contributing to the economy and the community.

"That is why having a local occupancy requirement on these homes was crucial, as it tackles the issue of people buying second homes and using them as holiday lets. This causes a significant drop in population in the ‘off season’ and affects community cohesion, not to mention pricing local people out of the areas.”

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