RADICAL plans reserving new housing in the Yorkshire Dales for local people were approved yesterday.

The controversial move will mean that only people living and working in the national park will be allowed to buy new properties.

The regulations will also prevent new housing being turned into second homes and holiday cottages.

Members of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority agreed in principle to the restricted occupancy policy at a meeting in Hawes, Wensleydale.

Peter Watson, the park authority's head of planning, said: "At the moment, most house- building in the Yorkshire Dales National Park is open market - meaning anyone can buy it.

"There is no logic in meeting open market demand in the national park because we can't build enough houses to bring prices down to levels affordable for local people without destroying the landscape.

"So, the obvious approach is to build homes only for people who work here.

"There are something like 10,000 houses in the national park and most have no occupancy restriction on them, so anyone will still be able to own one because the policy will only apply to new homes."

Brian Carlisle, director of estate agents JR Hopper and Co, which has offices in Leyburn and Hawes, said the move could mean prices of new homes in the park would fall by 25 per cent.

However, he believes the shortage of land available for building means the proposal will have limited benefits for local people.

He said: "It can't hurt the area and it may help supply a few much-needed houses at affordable prices.

"But unless the national park authority releases a substantial amount of ground to build these new houses, it's not going to make a lot of difference."

Dorothy Fairburn, Yorkshire regional director of the Country Land and Business Association, said the proposal did not go far enough. She said: "While we welcome the decision as a step in the right direction, there is still a lot more to be done to halt the exodus of young people from the Dales or to create new jobs."

The details of the proposal will now be decided, with the restrictions expected to come into force later this year.