Skaith said his housing strategy is to deliver 60,000 new homes over the next 10 years with “at least 5,000” in rural areas.
“In a rural context, three, four or five homes can keep a rural community alive.
“They keep young families here, they keep the schools open, the pubs open,” he added.
Asked how those homes go to a community’s “next generation,” and not holiday home owners, Skaith said second home ownership had “destroyed” some areas.
He welcomed decisions by North Yorkshire Council and City of York Council to charge double council tax on second homes.
Skaith said: “So it is really down to the two local authorities. But we are working with the planners, the two national parks and registered housing providers to say ‘our challenge here is affordable homes – we haven’t built enough of them’.”
Skaith’s plan also includes a pledge to upgrade rural infrastructure by “tackling persistent digital and mobile blackspots.”
Skaith said this will be done by working with providers, local authorities, and “really innovative” tech companies.
He said: “There was a project in Cornwall where a church worked with a media company to use the church tower as antennas to improve connectivity.
“It can be done. In every community there is a village hall, a church, a sports building, but it hasn’t been pushed enough in our region.
“We want to be that trailblazer, the place that shows to government, this is how it’s done.”
