Are second homes and short-term rental properties immoral?

[maranella]

We have a huge shortage of housing in this country and there and more and more stories about seaside towns and pretty villages being hollowed out by homes that stand empty half the year.

So I'm just wondering how other people feel about second homes and ones bought specifically to be holiday rentals? I really feel for people in places like Cornwall, Devon, north Norfolk, parts of Wales and the Lake District, who can't find affordable homes in the towns and villages where they've always lived and worked.

There probably should be local caps or extra fees to deter it.

The problem with airbnb is the sheer amount of money you can make. The service started as a way to earn from a spare room and meet new people.

Nothing but trouble for people trying to find a home and the noise for neighbours. Invest in stocks ffs!

Yes.

Yes totally immoral.
I live in Devon. I'm being evicted from my home. I have been looking for somewhere to move to for 19 weeks. I am single, a woman, self employed, have two dogs and been diagnosed with cancer. Nobody will even consider renting to me.
If they do property rental prices have doubled. I will go from spending £650 on rent to well over £1200 a month.
I'm on eligible for a 1 bed council property which make up less than 5% of the housing stock owned by the council.

The increase of Airbnb and second homes is an absolute disaster for our communities. Some towns become ghost towns out of season. Shops, pubs etc shutting, post office closing etc all due to lack of winter trade.
I don't begrudge people a holiday. But the numbers of properties that are allowed to become holiday let's or second homes should be limited. I think you should have to apply for change of use if you want it to be anything other than a primary residence.

Exactly. My stocks don't call me in the middle of the night to tell me the boilers broken or the tenants / guests have upset the neighbours. Hassle free passive investment.

Colleague bought a house in Devon, that's empty most of the year and then went on an overseas assignment for 4 years, leaving it empty. This destroys communities and local services. If we need to raise taxes, leave PAYE alone and tax second properties hard.

I don't really see how you can say holiday let owners are immoral without also saying anyone that rents a holiday let is also immoral. The holiday homes exist because there is demand for them. The people that stay in them spend money in the local area and are key contributors to the local economy. If you force tourists to stay in hotels or accommodation they don't favour as much then they may well choose to go abroad which is bad for the local and national economy.

Many of these areas are beautiful but also economically deprived. They often rely hugely on government subsidies. Local people feel they have an automatic right to live there and wealthy outsiders shouldn't be able to buy houses there. As usual, they are happy and indeed demand to be subsidised and for regulation to be brought in so that they and future generations of their family get to stay just through right of birth. What exactly anyone else would get out of this arrangement I'm not really sure? We will be taxed to provide their subsidy whilst also being unable to stay there in accommodation we actually want. If you day trip there then there isn't enough parking and locals don't seem to want day trippers either... I guess place of beauty are only for the lucky few who happen to be born and raised there.

Absolutely

I’m so sorry @Dobbysgotthesocks

yes is fucking immoral.

Totally dependent on your own moral values. To me, no. I don’t owe anybody anything. If others feel differently, they’re welcome to adjust their own property ownership accordingly.

@Bumpitybumper but it's a complete vicious circle.
Property prices force young people to move away and not return. That results in no workforce. No workforce drives businesses away making the area deprived. These areas where not deprived prior to the big expansions in tourism.
I don't think anyone is going to deny that tourism is now needed in these areas. But there are other industries in these places which need to be able to operate year round and if you continue to increase the property prices then there won't be any workforce left. Ultimately the tourism sector will also fail because as above there will be nobody left able to afford to live there and do the lowish paid jobs that still have to be done!

I'm currently in a holiday let in South Wales that is a converted outbuilding on a farm that wouldn't be great as a long term place to live. This feels less immoral than staying in cottage that could be lived in by a family- but am I not still part of the problem?

I have family members who have seemingly bought up half a village in Devon for their own holiday use which was pretty bad but then cousin's husband bought up a load of flats in the same location and instead of doing them up to rent to locals he has made them all holiday lets too. It really doesn't sit right with me at all.

I wonder how many of the people who have the power to limit or tax second homes own more than one house?

I live in an area where one in four houses is a second home or holiday let. Tourists are a huge source of income though.

I think there always room for rental & holiday let's but it should be more heavily taxed & more like other European countries.

I really feel for people in places like Cornwall, Devon, north Norfolk, parts of Wales and the Lake District, who can't find affordable homes in the towns and villages where they've always lived and worked.

Can I add London to the list, it always get forgotten about.

@Dobbysgotthesocks the same argument applies to any area where house prices are high or are rising though. When house prices go up then low earners get pushed out. This will impact the supply of low paid workers.

You need workers to maintain the local infrastructure and services this undoubtedly an area for public policy but it is unrealistic to expect to run a private business/industry that relies on low paid workers in desirable areas with high house prices. This creates its own vicious cycle where house prices have to be artificially suppressed forever in order to be affordable to a local workforce that works for a business that is inappropriately located. There are lots of areas in the UK that have affordable house prices that would be suitable for such enterprises without the need for such government intervention.

The tourism sector admittedly relies on low paid workers but if it's allowed to flourish without restrictions then it will be better placed to pay people better wages.

But we're not just talking private industry @Bumpitybumper! We're taking bin men, carers, nurses, teaching assistants! Essential workers are more often than not low paid workers. They need housing!! My bins haven't been collected on time for months! It's stick up out in bin day and leave them until they are collected sometimes days later.
Society doesn't work without a mix of income levels!

We have a second home in one of the places you mention. Immoral? Who knows. Lots of people do things that i class as wrong but if I said it to them I’d be told to mind my own business.

Please consider selling it so that a local family can have a home!!!

The saying 'there's enough for every man's need but not enough for every man's greed' springs to mind!

People are fundamentally a very greedy species. It doesn't matter if someone else has no home so longs as you have what you want!

No thanks. If you eat animal products, please consider going vegan!!! If you don’t use cruelty free products, please consider doing so!!! I could go on. We all do things that others don’t agree with, people generally don’t care about things that matter to me so now I just do what suits my family. Immoral? Possibly. But so are many people in my eyes. I used to care a lot before I realised how selfish most people are, now I’m past caring.

Second homes that is only used rarely, maybe. But rental property is nothing different from people trying to use their asset to earn money, imo. Holiday rentals attract tourist, good for local economy, as well as being a good income for some people.

Sometimes i do feel its immoral.

then again, we own 3 homes.

house 1 DH bought 40 years ago. His mum lived there til she died, We rent out to a family of 4.

house 2 he bought 23 years ago. We rent out to a single mum of 3.

house 3 we inherited. Spent £100k+ renovating it and we will not move.

the rental properties are rented out cheaper that what they should be. Long term tenants (10 yrs and 7 yrs).

one day we will sell both rental houses so we can give our 3 kids deposits for their own homes.

@Bumpitybumper our private sector businesses in my area exist here because they have to - fish farming, renewable energy, whisky production and associated farms for grain, forestry. A lot of the jobs in these sectors are low paid in comparison to the rest of the uk and in comparison to the rise in house prices in our area.

The tourism sector would now need to pay £15/hr to make living here anywhere near affordable, costs will be past on to customers ie the tourists you speak of who just won’t pay (based on the many not wanting to pay for a campsite spot and instead defecate next to someone’s home and empty grey waste In the river)

I'm torn on this (and no I don't own a 2nd home or rental property). I very much doubt that there are any 2nd homes in the area I live in. In property terms it is still probably an average area for prices but still my adult DS will struggle to get on the property ladder here as developers only seem to build 3 or 4 bed houses which are way beyond the reach of youngsters on the average wage (and my DS has an MA). The very few 2 or e bed semi's they build are snapped up immediately off plan.
So 2nd homes are not the only problem.

In tourist areas its a case of the tourists are needed to provide employment for the locals. Without tourists (who stay in holiday lets or 2nd homes) then there are no jobs so locals can't afford to buy anyway.

I am in a tourist area, tourism accounts for 10% of my region’s employment. There very much are jobs other than tourism related employment. It’s just the house prices due to second home buying mean it is very difficult for folk to sustain living and working here.

Yes, it’s sometimes hard to rent with pets.

We’ve allowed tenants to have dogs before, and they unfortunately did serious damage to our house. Dog piss on the new carpets. Beds chewed up, plantation shutters bitten through, it was heartbreaking after we’d made the house so nice, so now there are no pets allowed. You may well be the perfect tenant, who’ll never, ever let their dog piss or shit indoors, but sadly too many aren’t, and so many landlords will decide that it’s not worth the risk.