A MAJOR step forward has been taken in a campaign to stop the exodus of young people from Ilkley and surrounding villages because of unaffordable house prices.

A new rural housing officer has been appointed to try to increase the number of cheaper houses and flats.

This was announced at a conference aimed at the rejuvenation of the countryside in the wake of the foot and mouth disease outbreak.

The new 'rural housing enabler' will be based at Ilkley Town Hall for five years, a job jointly funded by Bradford Council and the Government's Countryside Agency.

The post will be managed by the Yorkshire Rural Community Council and the officer will work closely with parish councils in the area.

The Ilkley Gazette has long supported the campaign for more affordable housing in the Wharfe Valley in the belief that it will stop the disintegration of communities due to the loss of young families.

The Gazette also exposed the way that Bradford Council was using the interest from affordable housing money for Addingham to fund other services. Soon after the report appeared, Bradford changed its policy and channelled the interest back into the affordable housing budget.

Last year, Shabir Mohammed, the council's housing association manager, made a plea for people to help him to identify sites where £440,000 - an affordable housing sum promised by the developer of the Ilkley College site - could be spent to provide starter homes for people on lower incomes.

Housing bosses are hoping that the new officer - although the remit for the job will cover all the rural areas of the Bradford district - will be able to speed up the process of identifying suitable land in Ilkley and the surrounding villages.

He or she will then involve housing associations, local politicians and developers in making agreements about providing affordable houses.

A similar agreement will lead to the provision of 12 affordable housing units being included in the housing development on the former International Wool Secretariat building in Valley Drive, Ilkley.

Councillor Kris Hopkins (Con, Worth Valley), Bradford's housing chief, said: "Many rural villages and towns have high house prices compared to other parts of the district and little by way of affordable or social housing.

"This can lead to local people, especially young people having to move out of their home villages.

"The new rural housing officer will work with parish councils, housing associations and private developers to ensure that money is set aside and used for affordable housing and that people unable to buy on the open market can find housing to meet their needs. This will help to sustain the rural economy, maintain balanced communities and support village life.

"I am pleased that we are able to work with partner organisations to address this issue and contribute to rural renaissance within the district."

Jez Lester, Bradford's head of housing strategy and support, said that the appointment of a specific rural housing officer would make it easier for sites to be identified but the cost of land in Ilkley made affordable housing more difficult to provide.

"We need to look at where the council itself owns land. We have given land free of charge to housing associations so there are ways forward, but we have to work within the rules," said Mr Lester.

He said the council wanted to make it easier for people to stay in the area where they were born so community life could be sustained.

Ilkley District and Parish Councillor Anne Hawkesworth said that sites for affordable housing in the town were few and far between but added that the appointment of the rural housing officer was a positive move for rural areas in the district.

Ilkley Parish Council chairman Michael Gibbons said that the appointment of the rural housing officer was a positive step for people who needed affordable housing.

"Youngsters growing up in the town are forced to move out because of the high cost of housing, anything that can be done to redress that situation, we must be happy to see," Coun Gibbons said.