A REVEALING new survey has shown that most new homes in the area are bought by local people.

Concerns that new developments are bought up by out-of-town commuters have been partially allayed by a Homebuyers' Survey which reveals that six out of 10 new homes built in the district are bought by existing residents.

Around 450 new flats and houses are built and occupied every year in Lancaster District and residents often ask, "where are the people who buy the new houses coming from", and, "where do they work?"

To help answer these questions the City Council's Planning Service carried out a survey of new home owners.

Some 60% of approximately 300 survey forms, distributed to completed houses on a range of sites, were returned, revealing where new homebuyers had previously lived, where they now worked and why they chose to invest in a new home in Lancaster District.

The results have been published in a New Home Buyers Survey which also reveals changes in local job provision and population growth.

Between 1995 and 1999 the population of Lancaster District increased by 1.5%, from 136,200 to 138,250 whilst the number of people in employment increased by more than 8%, from 45,500 to 49,300.