Councils to ban sale of holiday cottages as second homes?

Cornish Town Holds Second Home Referendum
Cornish Town Holds Second Home Referendum



UK councils in popular tourist destinations, such as St Ives and the Lake District, are planning to ban people from buying holiday homes as second homes.

After a vote was held in St Ives following a steep rise of holiday homes and shortage of affordable housing, more than 80 per cent backed proposals for new housing projects to only receive planning permission if they are reserved for full-time residents.

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St Ives mayor Linda Taylor told the Plymouth Herald: "I am overwhelmed by the remarkable support for the mandate and the tremendous turnout.

"St Ives should be incredibly proud."

Councils in beauty spots including the Lake District, Isle of Wight, North Devon and the Derbyshire Dales are now looking at similar proposals, according to The Times (paywall).

The mayor of Aldeburgh in Suffolk, Michael Kiff, told the newspaper that more than 30 per cent of houses in the coastal town are holiday homes and he "will be watching St Ives with interest" before deciding whether to introduce similar bans.

But Tory MP Mark Garnier for Wyre Forest believes the restrictions are unfair.

"The only home I own is in St Ives but I live in rented properties elsewhere," he told The Times. "Would it be considered as a second home? I don't think the government ever envisaged this happening when they put the Localism Act through."

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Can St Ives Make Homes Affordable?
Can St Ives Make Homes Affordable?

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