NEARLY 30 young workers on Exmoor attended a recent seminar – on building their own homes.

The event was organised by Exmoor Young Voices, an organisation set up three years ago, to help young people stay living and working in Exmoor National Park.

The seminar was run by Justin and Linda Tyer, who built a straw house by themselves at Exton, near Dulverton.

Now 17 of the 28 young Exmoor residents who attended were inspired by what they learned, and are interested in taking the idea further.

A follow-up meeting on self-build homes is being held at the end of July.

“Young people are leaving Exmoor, which is why I was asked by Exmoor National Park Authority to set the group up, to see what needs to be done for young people here,” said Leslie Silverlock, the organisation’s advisor.

“We set up focus groups and housing is at the top of the list of needs.

“Young people who work here still live at home – they can’t afford to live anywhere else. The research showed affordable homes are not affordable for them, and they can’t get mortgages,” he said.

A number of young people have some land and were “fired up” by the self-build straw home they saw, he said, and Exmoor Young Voices also hoped to form a small group who could help each other build them.

“With self-build, you can’t get mortgages, so we are also trying to set up funding with low interest loans,” Leslie said.

He said the park authority was fully supportive of the project, and Exmoor Young Voices was keen to use brownfield land that the authority has earmarked for potential homes.