60 per cent of residents in Scottish national park struggle to find affordable housing as a third want to move

Some 60 per cent of residents in Scotland’s largest national park said they find it difficult to find somewhere affordable to live amid housing and public transport issues, a new survey has found.

The results were published in the first ever released Cairngorms National Park resident survey.

It comes at a time when Scotland is waiting to hear consultation results on a third designated national park, to be located in Dumfries and Galloway, which has proved to be highly controversial.

The Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA), which oversees the running of the park, commissioned the study from independent market research firm M.E.L Research.

Out of a total of 1,357 responses, the study found 82 per cent of participants said they are proud to live and work in the park, while 13 per cent disagreed.

Some 59 per cent of people believe the park status had a positive impact on the area, while 36 per cent disagreed.

The study found one of the key barriers to residents enjoying living in the national park was housing.

Six in ten people surveyed said they find it hard to find an affordable place to live within the national park.

Within that, almost 30 per cent of those people (26 per cent) said they found it “very hard.”

The research showed one third (32 per cent) of residents said they would like to move house in the next few years, compared to 21 per cent of residents across Scotland looking to move from their respective area in the Scottish Household Survey 2023.

Services also proved to be a thorn in residents’ side in the park boundary. Almost 40 per cent of respondents said they never use public transport in the park, with 41 per cent using it less than once a month. Some 62 per cent of those said this was because the journeys take too long or the timings don’t work, with 42 per cent saying the transport is unreliable.

In terms of work being done by organisations in the park, residents were least satisfied with efforts to improve the availability of housing.

Satisfaction was highest with the work being done to protect and enhance the wildlife and habitats at 69 per cent, compared to 22 per cent who were dissatisfied.

Although there were concerns about the way land is managed to tackle the nature and climate crisis and the economic outlook.

Residents who have lived in the park since birth were more likely than others to be dissatisfied with this work (32 per cent), the study said.

Most residents agree that living in the park positively contributes to their mental and physical health. This is particularly the case for those who have moved to the park in the last five years, of whom 92 per cent state that the move was good for their physical health, and 97 per cent that it is good for their mental health.

It is, however, notable that those working in the land management and farming sector are less likely to agree that living in the park is good for their mental (80per cent) and physical (71 per cent) health, suggesting the benefits for wellbeing of living in the park are not shared equally among all residents.

The majority (31 per cent) only “slightly agreed” their cultural heritage is celebrated in the national park.

Meanwhile, some 39 per cent said they are not feeling confident about the economic trajectory of the place.

CNPA said one of the key targets in its Cairngorms National Park Partnership Plan is by 2030, 75 per cent of new housing will be for social rental, mid-market rental or other affordable categories.

Between 2020 and 2023, 400 new homes were delivered in the park, of which approximately 30 per cent, CNPA said.

Sandy Bremner, of CNPA, said: “Increasing affordable housing remains the greatest need. We've already set out a number of measures in our Partnership Plan but are well aware that more needs to be done.”