Local Persons restriction seem a bit racist? Or am I overthinking?

[dartmoorgirl12]

We're house hunting on Dartmoor (clue's in the name!) at the moment, and we've seen a house with a Local Persons restriction on it. You have to live or work in the local or neighbouring parish for the previous five years. We actually qualify, but it got me thinking... Isn't it a bit weird that the "protected" group here are extremely likely to be white/broadly Christian. It just seems really exclusive for 2023. I do understand the idea that local communities should be protected, and that there is absolutely toxic housing pressure in Dartmoor at the moment. But ironically I live down here now because we got royally outpriced in the bit of London I grew up in. And there def doesn't seem to be any move to have Local Persons protections on various parts of London, which have been rapidly gentrified in recent times. I just thought it was interesting. Why is it that this group of white people get protected in this way?

@FeinCuroxiVooz , I think part of the issue is the quality of holiday homes. They often aren't of a quality that would allow them to be used as a full time residence, so while you could be putting extra cheap property on the market, you would also be allowing people to live in homes that aren't suitable for full time living. I'm thinking of the clusters of purpose built holiday homes that obstruct the view everywhere you go.

Racism😂

Unlikely to be. Only 46% of people in the 2021 census said they were Christian.

But that will vary a lot from area to area.

This. In my corner of the SE none of the parents at school are local - as in not brought up in the town. All are people from London now moving to the suburbs to raise their families, the knock on effect of this is a 2 bed flat is now over £300k and don't even think about looking at a house unless you have the best part of £500k.

I'm very pro bringing this scheme in nationwide or at least a scheme that says at least one member of the household needs to have a strong local connection such as work or family.

The knock on effect of me being priced out of this area is I take my decent salary to the next affordable town over and contribute to the locals there being priced out of their homes...

OP said broadly Christian, meaning Christian by heritage. As it happens of the 2373 people living on Dartmoor, 2300 are white, 12 Asian, 16 Black. 1126 state their religion as Christian and 997 say they have no religion so there's not much representation of other religions.

Some of the share to buy schemes in my part of N London have this.

It's supposed to stop this happening, but even when there are schemes to allow local workers somewhere to live, the wealthy still find ways to take advantage.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-64303486

This is a nonsense! By all means put a primary residence requirement on a property. But you can't stop people moving round the country to live somewhere else for work.

Actually, most of the wealthy incomers are white folks seeking a white-populated rural setting for their own mildly racist sentimentality.

What does Christian by heritage mean? I used to live in an area of north London where most of the Christian churches were black Afro-Caribbean with big congregations while the traditional Christian church was dying.

Oh, you've done a survey have you? Or are you just overlaying that with your own prejudices?

The clue to my knowledge is the BIL who works in construction recruitment...

And mine is that I personally work in construction procurement. 😁

There are certainly more dimensions to this than "Londoners bad, locals good" - but the crux of this is that whinging that you can't buy your preferred property at your preferred price in your preferred area isn't a problem the area needs to solve for you.

Have you told your parents and the locals that they should stop whinging because it's their problem?

Careful folks, those Christian hordes are taking over Dartmoor 🤣 Don’t delay, they could be coming to your area soon!

What on earth is wrong with everyone on MN today? People who live in London are allowed to move to live and work in other parts of the UK. FFS.

They are but they are also pushing people out in the same way they were pushed out. Asking for a local connection (not just schools for the kids but actual tangible work or family style connections) isn't racist or any other ist. It's ensuring the community stays as a community.

As I said up thread, I've been priced out of my area by Londoners so I'm in turn going to price out locals from the next town over. It's the knock on effect it has not just one pocket of houses

If it's about protecting local communities and enabling people to live where they grew up, 5 years doesn't seem long enough? (As OP's example).

Does anyone know why it's been set at 5 years?

Presumably so you can't rent out a short term lease for 6 months, as happens with school applications in desirable areas, then claim local residency.

5 years is an awkward time frame

Presumably it shows some level of commitment to staying in the area long term?

No, it's not racist.

From London to Dartmoor, that's a long way. Did you find jobs straight away?

Being white and Christian is not a sin

You liked the place but not everyone has the privilege to live where they want.

Oh, yes, and the community should be left alone

There is definitely a housing crisis in Britain, primarily caused by building not keeping up with or building suitable long-term properties for the population which are properly integrated into communities. But it is in no small way exacerbated by second home ownership and holiday lets. In certain areas these will be the driving factor.

So I'd absolutely support an initiative that prioritises local people being able to find houses. I know of certain communities where the council is having to ask on social media if anyone has any accommodation that could be made available for nurses, teachers, doctors etc because they desperately need to keep said staff in the area but they have nowhere to live.

Then I'd make those coming into the area to live and work in the area second priority, with those coming into the area to live but commute elsewhere to work third priority.

Holiday lets would be restricted to those where there is a full time live in resident or residents (like bed and breakfasts or someone converting a barn).

Second homes would be banned unless absolutely no-one else wanted the property.

Ah the things I'd do if I ruled the world....

Personal experience and observation.
Quantitative research isn't going to cut it, is it? Imagine getting people to rate themselves on a racism scale 🤣