If you're from Cornwall, how do you personally feel about tourists and second home owners?

[Beerlovingwalker]

Genuinely curious really, as an outsider that loves Cornwall.

On the one hand, it must be nice to know that so many people love the beauty of your county and I'm sure it's nice to share it. However, it also must be difficult to adjust from living fairly quietly in the Autumn/winter months, to suddenly have to share your space with so many million tourists and second home owners in the summer.

This is a form of victim blaming IMO, you can;t ask those who are financially weaker to forego an opportunity when opportunitiesa re so scarce and our society increasingly unequal.

You could say that about anything, though. Suppose somebody in your town owned a family-friendly restaurant which earned them a reasonable living, but realised that they could earn a shed-load more more by turning it into a seedy lap-dancing club, with a sex shop on the side - all (just about) legal, of course. Would you nonchalantly accept that they must need/should get as much money as they can or would you just be a little bit unhappy about it?

@Livelovebehappy

The thing is the residents of Cornwall who sell their homes to second homeowners are more likely than not going to be aware of who they’re selling to. But they obviously don’t give a flying fig - it’s all about the money. So the people who are actually living in Cornwall, who want to make it easier for their own, should stop selling to others who are going to make it their second home. Problem solved.

Well said ! Totally agree.

It’s not just Cornwall that has a problem of over inflated house prices stopping locals buying.
My friend is getting divorced and sold their family home in nidderdale. The house was marketed at £900k, had 10 viewings on the first weekend and sold to a family relocating from London who only viewed over zoom. It went to sealed bids and they paid £60k over asking. It’s a nice house but not that nice! It’s not got any land, annex or anything else to make it special - it is a 4 bed period cottage (and it’s in a WiFi black spot - not sure how they will WFH ).

We were gazumped in the autumn by someone buying a second home. Sellers had agreed our over asking price offer when the new buyers offered an extra £20k without even seeing the property - the estate agent was mortified for us but he had a legal obligation to put the offer forward and we were dropped pretty quickly as we couldn’t afford to match it. It was a probate sale and the family wanted as much as possible. It’s so disappointing it was the first 3 bed property in my parents village we could afford that had come up for sale in 2 years.

I'm from the south west....

Tourists good... Second homes owners... Awful...

Second homes eviscerate villages...

Schools close as not enough kids, pubs close as not enough off season trade... Same with shops...

So the few locals left?? An old person then has NO shops /Post office or cafe to meet friends in...no where to 'go'... The weekly market bus has stopped... The village has died... But its OK its pretty for you to spend your weekend in 4 times a year...

Second home owners; THIS IS D0WN TO YOU!!

I’m from the South West. Young people should blame their parents/ grandparents who sold their houses to second home owners for an increased profit thereby making the market sky rocket. They could have chosen to only sell to locals so I think it goes both ways, you can’t just blame second home owners. But in the same position 99% of us will do the same. Its unfortunate but that’s life.

[quote CharlotteRose90]@Mousetown never once have I said I’m saviour at all. So no embarrassment for me thanks. Just kinda weird how you hate people with second homes but not tourists when second homes most of them bring tourists. Almost laughable. It’s also not people’s fault that villages collapse and things close. When I go on holiday I use the village shops and pubs etc. . If theirs no money then why don’t locals pay up instead of blaming other people.

If locals didn’t sell their properties to people then we couldn’t afford to pay them. You have absolutely no right to blame second home owners and not yourselves.

In my area lots of shops and places have closed do we blame people with second homes? No we don’t because there isn’t any. Places close. Perhaps look at the fact that Cornwall has jobs but not careers everything resolved about money these days.[/quote]
This entire post sums up your utter ignorance to the situation. You should be embarrassed.

I should add, I kind of get it....The issues really lie with crap all career options and shit infrastructure. Very little investment over the years.... London gets crossrail and we can't even manage to shore up the only train line past Exeter which gets blown away in storms every other year....

@littlepattilou - if you have never visited Cornwall how do you know that there are very few decent schools or colleges? If you have never visited how do you know the locals are hostile? Sorry the roads are awful - I assume too narrow and winding? - called country roads. I am guessing you read up on Cornwall in order to have all this useful information at your fingertips.

Not much point hating the buyers. Hate the council for not restricting sales to locals - Labour has restricted sales in the peak District for decades to main residence only. Buyer has to live there and pay council tax. Sure keeps prices down...

But they obviously don’t give a flying fig - it’s all about the money. So the people who are actually living in Cornwall, who want to make it easier for their own, should stop selling to others who are going to make it their second home. Problem solved

Perhaps it's the only way of helping their dc on the ladder?

@PaulGallico No, I have never been, but the info I put, I took from people who HAVE been. Pretty obvious really. It's not that hard to work out.

Hampshire police were really hands off during lockdown, Devon & Cornwall police (along with Derbyshire) made themselves look stupid.

Actually I found Devon and Cornwall police remarkably sensible and reasonable throughout the lockdowns (except for a bit of the first one when everyone went nuts). I was able to go anywhere without being challenged, and it seemed a common sense approach was employed.

It was Derbyshire police who didn't cover themselves in glory. My mum in South Wales also got a threatening note left on her windscreen on more than one occasion when she took the grandchildren to the beach six miles away.

But I do mind OVER-tourism. And yes this is very much a problem. Cornwall can only absorb so many people - it is long and thin and gets thinner towards the end! In 2019 police were turning people away from the top of Perranporth - no room anywhere, car parks full, beach full, roads gridlocked. It must have been completely hellish.

And PMSL at someone crying 'victim blaming' at the people who make 100s of 1000s on the properties they sell to 'incomers.'

I have heard it all now! Oh those poor little 'victims' with their £500K profit!

This is such a sad thread to read.
My family have had so many wonderful cottage holidays in the UK over nearly three decades and this thread is making me feel really guilty.

I've no idea what the answer is to this issue... Cornwall and similar lovely counties rely heavily on tourism but , judging by this thread, we should only be staying in tents in a sodden field in order to enjoy the splendours of these beautiful places .

Maybe we should , when we can, all waltz off to a luxury apartment/villa abroad!
Oh wait... the locals in the Spanish/Portuguese/Greek/French resorts hate tourists for pricing the locals out of affordable properties .

I think that the price of tourism is very high on the area concerned but I agree that second home owning might need looking at.

I live in Cornwall, and have done all of my life, I was born here. I also work in hospitality. (Full disclaimer. I am not claiming anything I say is only relevant to Cornwall.)

It goes without saying that I wouldn't have an income without tourism. I live in a lovely area and I like being able to share that with others. I don't tire of making acquaintance with lovely visitors who appreciate and respect the people who live and work here. That's 90% of tourists by the way!!

Overtourism as PP mentioned is different and I encourage everyone on the thread to consider this as a genuine problem rather than locals needlessly complaining. While I am extremely grateful that tourism could open up last summer (could we have survived without it?), it brought problems too. Queues of traffic, making it insanely difficult for anyone to go about their daily lives. Every establishment was ridiculously understaffed (in my experience); there just were not enough people available to work, and workers (including myself) were nearing burnout.

I love where I live, I love tourism, I need an income and I enjoy sharing my local area with others. I like to go on holiday myself, and this would make me a massive hypocrite if I hated tourists! But the attitudes of visitors makes a humongous difference. Like I said, 90% of visitors are lovely. But a respect for the people here is a necessity. It is not our fault that you queued for half an hour to get here, or that you need to make reservations in advance instead of walking in, that you wait a little while longer for your meal. Most people know this! But there are always (ESPECIALLY last summer) people that treat the locals with a huge disrespect and really do forget that people live and work here. I think that is where the 'hostility' comes from and over time, it brings us down.

Please no one be put off visiting Cornwall due to a perception of angry locals. We can deal with the queues and the jam packed ness (as it means we get paid!) as long as we're treated like human beings! Which most tourists do.

((Perspective of a hospitality worker and I appreciate not every Cornish local will feel the same.))

In regards to second home owners I think the general consensus has been covered. Not just a Cornish issue as others have said.

Love the tourists usually, sometimes it can be difficult as when it’s beach weather there’s often too many people/no parking at the beach, shops are crowded, everything is more expensive, day trips etc are sold out and so on.

I’m not fond of second home owners at all, as they drive the house prices up. So I will either have to rent forever or move away from all of my family, move jobs etc if I want to buy.

@hettie

I should add, I kind of get it....The issues really lie with crap all career options and shit infrastructure. Very little investment over the years.... London gets crossrail and we can't even manage to shore up the only train line past Exeter which gets blown away in storms every other year....

Take the crossrail...and all the extra people (dreaded incomers!) who will move down with it pushing up house prices... Somehow doubt you'd like that.

@Mousetown just out of interest if tourists stopped coming to your place would you still blame them? Everyone is at fault and what’s funny is you blaming other people. Maybe become a mayor of your village or wherever you live and stop locals selling their houses as that’s who’s to blame.

Also agree with PP that Simon Reeve doc was excellent.

I live in SE Cornwall. Tourists - great. Yes, its a pain the ass having traffic, litter, crowding, between May-October, but I can appreciate the money and jobs they bring to the area.

Second home owners, I can do without. Its heart breaking to walk through local villages Oct-April and see 75% off them locked up, curtains drawn. I counted the other day - on my way down the street from the car park to the beach, out of about 70 houses, 60 of them had keypads and a key lock box on the outside. It was like an apocalypse movie. Not only are Cornish people not able to buy due housing costs, any housing stock tends to be bought on line by people out of county and nothing is added back into to the community. I personally feel 2nd home owners should pay a county tax or community tax which could be fed back into affordable housing for the Cornish.

@Midge75 There is indeed a similar Cornish word - Hireth

[quote CharlotteRose90]@Mousetown just out of interest if tourists stopped coming to your place would you still blame them? Everyone is at fault and what’s funny is you blaming other people. Maybe become a mayor of your village or wherever you live and stop locals selling their houses as that’s who’s to blame.[/quote]
Who said I was blaming tourists? I’m fine with tourists.

[quote CharlotteRose90]@Mousetown just out of interest if tourists stopped coming to your place would you still blame them? Everyone is at fault and what’s funny is you blaming other people. Maybe become a mayor of your village or wherever you live and stop locals selling their houses as that’s who’s to blame.[/quote]
Oh and my “village or wherever” doesn’t have a mayor so 🤷‍♀️

Please no one be put off visiting Cornwall due to a perception of angry locals. We can deal with the queues and the jam packed ness (as it means we get paid!) as long as we're treated like human beings! Which most tourists do.

I've never been but have wanted to. Some of it looks so beautiful. I must confess these threads and what I've seen online elsewhere have put me off a bit. I especially don't understand complaints about tourists 'clogging up' places as if Cornwall is special. London has tourists crowding streets and shops, etc all year round, not just summer. That's just how it is and I personally think it's lovely when people are enjoying seeing a local sight on a holiday, rather than a jaded local walking on by. However, it's no different to Cornwall (except Cornwall gets quiet time off season). London (and other tourist locations) get twatty tourists too sometimes. But then some of the locals are twats too, because there are twats everywhere.

All those saying ‘locals shouldn’t sell to second home buyers’... it’s not that simple.

Typically someone has died, the family (who typically live upcountry) decide to sell. And don’t really care who buys it.

Also, that ship has really sailed a long time ago. Now it’s mostly second home owners selling to other second home buyers.

And there are locals who are very careful about who they sell to. When we bought our house (coastal Cornish village) the seller was very clear they would only sell to a buyer who would be living here permanently.