WEST Devon residents living in rented property could be paid thousands of pounds if they choose to downsize to smaller homes, borough councillors say.

They backed the move as one of several measures aimed at tackling a rising housing crisis which has seen practically no rented property come onto the market in either Okehampton and Tavistock.

The resulting crisis has seen key workers such as NHS staff turn down jobs in West Devon because they simply can’t find anywhere to live.

Top councillors fear the crisis could help stall the borough’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, with the authority’s influential hub committee being told the major shortage of affordable housing is particularly acute for families.

Housing is sometimes not being released onto the market because other tenants stay in larger houses even after their household size has reduced due to bereavement or children growing up and moving away.

Councillors accepted that moving house, particularly for the elderly, could be difficult, stressful and costly and that is often an emotional, practical or financial strain. So such tenants will be offered a £1,000 fixed payment, plus £500 per bedroom they release.

The incentive will be offered to people in family-sized houses - two bedrooms or larger - to persuade them to move to a property that has at least one less bedroom. It means, for example, a couple wanting to move from a three-bedroom house into a one-bedroom property would receive £2,000.

The money will be paid if the resident is an existing housing association tenant on an assured tenancy, living in the West Devon borough area and whose housing association landlord confirms the ’nomination rights’ for the property being vacated will be given to West Devon Borough Council. In some circumstance the incentive may be higher. Where local pressures on existing housing stock are recognised, a discretionary payment may increase the award up to £5,000.

The move comes as councillors urged the Government to close the loophole where second home owners opt to pay business rates rather than council tax, which means the borough council receives 50 per cent less money, while town and parish authorities receive nothing.

They are writing to Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling up, Housing and Communities, to lobby for changes to close the second homes business rate loophole and another in the supported exempt accommodation regulations. These have allowed landlords to turn long-term rentals into B&B properties and then claim business rate exemptions.

Councillors have heard that tenants in rented properties in West Devon are being given two months to quit their homes so owners can turn them into airbnbs. While that situation is said not to be so severe as in coastal areas, it is believed nonetheless to be escalating in the borough.

The report adds: ’Members are rightly concerned by the loss of the last few units of social housing in a village with no prospect of them being replaced in the same vicinity. Under the terms of the stock transfer agreement, the council does not have the power to block such sales. However, the council will continue to challenge registered providers on disposals and will carry on the conversations about replacement properties being provided locally. The council will consider whether it or another registered provider could take on the property.’