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.

You're not buying anything in London, even in the most undesirable estates/tower blocks, for £130k

Commuting in and around London is way quicker, cheaper and easier than in the home counties and in places like Devon and Cornwall.
When I moved out of London I was quite surprised at the cost and infrequency of the bus service.
I've been to Cornwall recently and while a lot of lanes are national speed limit, in reality you can't go more than about 30mph, until you get to a "main" Road (which is still only 1 lane in each direction) I don't think I saw a bus the whole time I was there.

That leasehold flat in Helston is ex social housing in an inland town - we are talking about whole villages - generally coastal - once thriving communities - being bought up for holiday and second homes. Helston to my place of work 40 miles away would take four hours by bus. No trains in the area.

That’s four hours each way.

but you go on comparing a deprived rural area to affluent suburbs of London with excellent transfer links …..

Did you really just lecture a woman who is about to be made homeless with a cancer diagnosis? Was there any need?!

Some really interesting characters coming out of the woodwork on this thread. People don't generally admit that they don't give a shit about anyone but themselves, so it's unusual to see them sticking their heads above the parapet here. If anyone needed evidence that this is firmly a Tory country now...

That's asking price too! Not what places are actually selling for!!! Check back in six months on zoopla to see what it actually sold for! Some places are selling for massively higher than the asking price! Oh and that place for £130k needs considerable work which won't be cheap!

I don’t believe that at all. House prices in Cornwall will be cheaper as you move 20 miles further inland away from the sea or away from the scenic village.
People in Cornwall just have weird ideas about “keep Cornwall for the Cornish” like you don’t welcome anyone else moving in or like you should have some unique right to keep property prices low.
News flash: You don’t.

Yes.

Your wrong @Twiglets1 I have no issue with tourists or people moving here to live.
I have issue with people loosing their homes because we are being priced out.
I am a local carer with clients that rely on me for all their care. Bed kind patients who can't do things for themselves. I am loosing my home for it to become an Airbnb. This is the second time in 5 years this has happened to me.
Rental per month for the equivalent house has doubled in two years. My wages haven't.

What happens when all the carers leave? All the nurses? All the bin men? All the teaching assistants?

Moving 40 miles in land is more than an hours commute away on rural roads! There is no public transport.

Helston is a perfectly nice town. If you were living in a desirable fishing village your commute would be exactly the same and you would have to either drive or use buses, sorry it doesn’t fit your narrative. I actually know both areas very well and have chosen areas that have similar levels of desirability.

Seriously, where is it you want to live, because in my experience the pretty coastal villages have even more shit public transport. If you are a cater, you must have a car to go between appointments. I specifically chose an example of a a small town not too far from some of the desirable seaside areas, I didn’t choose the roughest or cheapest area I could have. Same in London I chose somewhere that was not the most desirable but not a complete sink estate. People in London don’t get to live in the London equivalent of pretty fishing villages any more than people in cornwall do.

Yes it is.

And it's funny that people are trying to make out that it's the same as eating meat. Honestly...

But many on Mumsnet - as evidenced not just on this but on many a thread - don't seem to have any morals and just are generally the kind of people that make the world a worse place....

But by their very nature this thread won't make a difference to them because they simply don't care about others or what happens to other people as a result of their actions excluding their immediate family.

@Eastangular2000 what I want is not to be forced out of my local area. Which is neither coastal nor particularly special.
I want to be able to stay within catchment of the local hospital where I am receiving chemotherapy for cancer - I'm on a clinical trial and wouldn't necessarily be able to have the same treatment elsewhere.
I want to be able to stay within commuting distance of my clients so I can continue to run my business which I have worked bloody hard to set up and don't want to see fail.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/125860313#/?channel=RES_BUY

less than 3 miles from Helston

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/123903917#/?channel=RES_NEW

15 mins drive from Helston.

Undesirable area you say. You sound ridiculous

But the reasons you are having to move is because you are in a rental and the govt has made it very expensive for private landlords to have long term tenants on ASTs and much more profitable for them to run them as holiday lets or Airbnb. By all means campaign to have the punitive tax arrangements and increased regulations for private landlords changed as that will have far more of a positive impact on you finding somewhere to rent. I suspect however that you will prefer to keep getting angry at the wrong people

There are pros and cons, i think the answer is to limit the amount of lets/ 2nd homes in some areas. I saw the area i lived in in Gloucestershire do just that years ago and it worked well.

I live in Pembrokeshire, tourism is essential for local businesses and our economy, but 2nd homes have driven house prices into ridiculous figures, and theres nowhere to rent at all.

@Eastangular2000 you are also sounding ridiculous - are whole areas of London likely to be hollowed out into empty homes several months of the year? If you know the Helston area that well you will know there are very few jobs there above minimum wage which would make even they properly unobtainable for most locals, so they would rent - however due to holiday homes this option is now out of the window. You should also know it comes down to more than simply wanting to live in a scenic area - Cornish people are proud of their heritage and many families have lived in what are now ghost villages for generations. Cornish people are generally belittled on here for being proud to be Cornish - so off you go ….

@Eastangular2000 how the hell do you know why I am having to move! You don't have a clue!
But I will tell you. My landlord was made a huge offer for my home. An absolutely ridiculous amount for a run down Victorian terrace. They are turning it into an Airbnb. They have bought another house in the village too. They paid more than £100k more for that than another identical house sold for 2 years ago.

Yes I am angry! I am angry that potential my life is being put at risk for other peoples greed!

Yes there are large areas of central London that are exactly as you describe, if you didn’t realise this I can see why you might be a bit confused. It’s something that people from London have been dealing with for a long time. Cornish people don’t have a monopoly on local ties and heritage!

@Bumpitybumper my apologies in advance but you really have no idea what you are talking about. Literally none.

The vast majority of money that is spent by tourists goes out the area, most Air BnB owners are from up country, most holiday parks and big attractions are not locally owned. The facilities that are locally owned are owned by a few wealthy individuals. The vast majority of the jobs are NMW and seasonal, maybe six months a year.

Our parish has an official population of about 2500 individuals, so maybe 1000 full time occupied properties. On Air BnB there are over 400 whole house rentals, add in at least 200 second homes that aren't rented. And guess what? There are precisely zero long term let's on RM or PL.

At the same time old fashioned guest houses in old fashioned seaside resorts remain unsold in some of the most poverty stricken and underprivileged wards in the country.

You have proved my point exactly.

@Eastangular2000 40%+ of the population of london does not disappear for 8 months of the year!

Of course not, I didn't say that. But they are comparably cheaper than nicer, desirable areas.

@Eastangular2000 err no I haven't! My being made to move has absolutely nothing to do with the increased cost of renting a property out long term. My landlord owns virtually the entire village. They were made an offer they could not refuse and I could not match! It has nothing to do with the cost of having a tenant 🙄

The govt punitive regime towards private landlords favours people stopping doing ASTs and starting to do holiday let’s and Airbnb. It was one of the unintended consequences of the campaign to make private landlords public enemy number one and increase their tax burden and level of regulation. People should be careful what they wish for.