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.

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

Yes but they're overseas tourists who don't know any different and are "doing" the UK (usually by visiting London, Bath and Oxford, and maybe York and Edinburgh as well).

Cornwall is mostly UK tourists who go there because they think it's the aspirational middle class place to go to, and it must be good because everyone else goes there too (see also West Wittering).

People from abroad 'don't know any different'??

Many countries abroad have much higher standards in all sorts of things, including public etiquette, than us.

Loads and loads of UK tourists (twats and people from Cornwall included) go to London - day trips, city breaks, or longer.

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...

Second home owners pay council tax most places.

I don’t think the rest of your post can possibly be true as there are nearly 1,000 holiday homes in the Peak District listed on Air B&B as of 2019, an increase of nearly 50% since 2016. It would also rule out buy to let. I just don’t think that’s possible or legal but would be interested to learn more if I’m wrong.

I'm Devon and love tourists. However, hate second home owners.

my in-laws live in Cornwall, so we go there often, in all seasons. I find visiting in the summer a nightmare! - the traffic to get there for one thing, having to book meals out in advance, no dogs on beaches, and cars not driving sensibly in the narrow roads. BUT, then again, in the winter, I find it sad that places are closed up.

On the ‘clogging’ issue...

I’ve lived both in Cornwall and London. And the difference I see is this:

• city infrastructure is designed to accommodate millions of people, rural infrastructure is not

• generally, tourists in cities clog areas where local don’t tend to hang out or have a desperate need to be

I used to work in Soho and the clogging around Oxford St and Oxford Circus was annoying, but that was mostly other Londoners/commuters.

Tourists never used to get in my way travelling to the supermarket, taking my kids to the park and see rarely an issue when going to/coming from work either. I can’t say the same here in Cornwall.

@Mousetown so people are fine to come for holidays but not stay there full time . That’s fine with me I wouldn’t stay where folk aren’t wanted. Absolutely crazy but hey. Glad I stay in the lakes. Looks like people don’t want anyone to move at all. Saying that though I’m in the north and couldn’t afford Cornwall or Devon too expensive for the same as back here. You do have nicer beaches and weather though. That’s what drawers people in:

I completely agree with orangesamphire - I think the tide is changing and alot of locals are now selling to locals or people that are relocating to the area. Many second homes tend to be bought from a deceased relative or a second home owner sale.
There a plenty of hotels, air bnbs', gites, tents, caravans, existing self catering homes already. There has to come a point where the needs of locals is more important than providing more accommodation choices for a 2 week holiday.

Not RTFT, but if it hasn’t already been mentioned, this is a great film about the impact of second homes. “Hypnotically strange” indeed. You can watch the Trailer for free and despite the ‘coming soon’, it’s been out a while on DVD:

player.bfi.org.uk/subscription/film/watch-bait-2018-online

It’s sad to have people who are the heart of their community living up out of town while second home owners buy up the village homes. I think some comments here really underestimate the level of poverty in Cornwall. They also don’t stop to think why some local people are compelled to sell their house to the highest bidder even if they’re not going to live in it full time. You’d also be surprised by how many house-purchasers lie about their intentions.

As the tag line of Bait (above) says:

“The view may be beautiful but you can’t eat it”

Cornwall is a very poor area and the house prices are ridiculous compared to the average wage.

This is all interesting. I’m glad tourists aren’t resented!

I can see why people feel that way about second homers.

Does the rise of remote working help people from Cornwall - in that it opens up the job market - or does it make things worse as you get people from elsewhere (cities) moving down, and pricing then existing residents out?

You do have nicer beaches and weather though.

Cornwall generally has shit weather. Just saying.

Following the many online rants during last year I've definitely been put off visiting a few popular locations, and with Cornwall that has dated back a few years. I was asked to be a godparent in Cornwall for a friend and came back to a "tourists fuck off" sticker on my car, this was 2012.
No one needs to feel threatened by xenophobes when they're just looking to unwind on a break.

I don’t know on the remote working thing @GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing. It’s an interesting one.

My DH and I have both worked remotely from Cornwall for international firms for a decade. But we aren’t from here originally and I do wonder if you haven’t been exposed to that sort of life/work then you might not think you can. I do wonder about that for Cornwall, having seen how blinkered the aspirations for young people can be here.

And yes there are lots of people moving down from other areas. We want to move to a bigger property, but have been outbid on three already because the market is so hot now.

I hope our existing population grabs on to this remote working opportunity with both hands. I really do.

[quote CharlotteRose90]@Mousetown so people are fine to come for holidays but not stay there full time . That’s fine with me I wouldn’t stay where folk aren’t wanted. Absolutely crazy but hey. Glad I stay in the lakes. Looks like people don’t want anyone to move at all. Saying that though I’m in the north and couldn’t afford Cornwall or Devon too expensive for the same as back here. You do have nicer beaches and weather though. That’s what drawers people in:[/quote]
But this is the problem! People are not staying full time. Rows and rows of houses are unoccupied in the winter months.

Enjoy your second home in the Lakes. Don’t kid yourself into believing the locals are not just as pissed off with second home owners as the locals in Cornwall/Devon/Wales/London/anywhere else where communities have been destroyed by second home greed.

OrangeSamphire
But actually the 'clogging' does affect London. It's one of worse affected parts of the country for air pollution. Due in no small part to increased traffic and numbers of people - which impacts on the health of Londoners

The transport pre pandemic (and even now on the tube in central London) is packed. Noses in armpits. Cornwall does not have the prize for most crowded place, not by a long shot.

And, central London is not just a tourist disneyland (a term I've seen Cornish locals use for parts of Cornwall). In fact the assumption that it is, and that there are no local communities living there, rather proves my point. You talk of Cornish communities being destroyed. Central London communities are also being destroyed. The difference is no one talks about that and it definitely doesn't get the sympathy Cornish villages do. It's double standards.

I promise you CharlotteRose90 2nd home owners are equally loathed in the Lakes, where I used to live, and also in the Peaks, where I live now.

However, many 2nd home owners live in small, expensive accommodation in London and slave their guts out with crap quality of life. Escaping to the holiday home, which is presumably a lot more spacious, with cleaner air etc is what they live for

As an accidental second home owner in Northumberland after MIL died (until we managed to sell it) I can categorically say that owning a second home is a PITA. The practicalities of dealing with a leaking roof, keeping heating on low over several lockdowns because we couldn’t visit, various other things that could (and did) go wrong, the expense of council tax, paying standing charges for electricity, annual boiler service, broadband etc make owning a second home far more expensive than staying in a hotel or B and B every now and again.

I am against the principal of owning a second home for all the reasons already listed, and much prefer to support the local economy of any place we choose to go on holiday in the UK and abroad. I think the government should do more to discourage second home owners.

Apparently the internet can be more problematic in more rural areas and long distances to drive for doctors or medical care

When someone whose family is from central (or, increasingly any part of) London is priced out, there's often an attitude of, oh well, it's London, it's expensive and you just have to move out, away from the local community. But when it's someone from a Cornish village, so often there's immense sympathy and horror that somebody is being priced out. Both have expensive unaffordable for locals housing, both attract tourists and second home owners. Ok, London leads the way in homelessness and rough sleepers, but that aside it's the same issue. No difference between London and Cornwall... except public attitudes.

Double standards.

@Dobbyafreeelf

I'm in south Devon and frankly I'd love to get rid of both. Both strangle the life out of communities. This weekend alone I have had more than 5 run ins with non locals - refusing to reverse their cars length into a pull in so I could get past with a trailer with livestock in. People being asked not to feed my horses over the gate. A hit and run with someone knocking my wing mirror off my parked car. Being blocked in on my land by walkers for hours who had parked across my gate. And then there's the bloody cyclists! I'm done with them. I work bloody hard to keep a roof over my head which is insanely high. I lost 4hours of paid business due to being blocked in which I cannot afford.

So I no tourists and second home owners are not welcome. Please do not come to Devon.

Get all of those in Berkshire.

However, many 2nd home owners live in small, expensive accommodation in London and slave their guts out with crap quality of life. Escaping to the holiday home, which is presumably a lot more spacious, with cleaner air etc is what they live for
.....and Cornish people who also live in small, expensive rented accommodation and long hours, no doubt on a fraction of a London wage, get what when they retire?!

My family who live in Redruth and surrounding areas have been saying for years how awful the second home owners are viewed.

The trouble with this thread is it's full of people who actually live in Cornwall or similar touristy areas explaining very clearly why second home owners are a massive problem and hugely resented by locals.

Which is what the OP asked for. Personal opinions from the people it affects.

And then we've got all the people with money who are clearly second home owners - or like to stay in posh expensive holiday cottages - arguing why they aren't destroying local communities and justifying why places like Cornwall need to suck it up. Or arguing it's the same in London.

I live in a tourist area. I don't know any local who doesn't hate second home owners and the people that have bought up houses to rent out as Air BnB. They tolerate 'tourists' in caravan parks because they spend money and don't take our housing, even though it makes the summers over crowded and not much fun. They loathe people that have bought up property and priced the locals out.

I don't know anyone who lives in the countryside that believes second home owners are very welcome. They aren't. The only people that think this are people with money, who it doesn't affect. So if you have a second home in a nice area next to a retired bank manager they are probably pleasant to you. But the 20 something working in the butchers hates your guts because you've contributed to them being priced out of the village they grew up in.

@CharlotteRose90. Hi, while everything you have posted may be in good faith, the reality of living in our environment, pretty country. somewhat off/below radar so far, and really quite convenient, there is an inevitability that sooner or later it will be discovered. And once it's found, there's no going back. The cottage that granny lived in for 40 years or more is up for sale, to the highest bidder, who almost undoubtedly will not be a local person with children for the school, or who drinks in the pub. The houses in the village I grew up in in the 1960s was by 2000 almost totally depopulated. It came to life only in summer, for six or eight weeks, and there are only old people left behind. It is beyond sad.

**However, many 2nd home owners live in small, expensive accommodation in London and slave their guts out with crap quality of life. Escaping to the holiday home, which is presumably a lot more spacious, with cleaner air etc is what they live for

What crap. For the cost of buying and running a second home, why not buy a better home or a nicer quality of life in London. Or move to somewhere full time. Rather than upsetting local life elsewhere. People who earn well enough to have two properties usually have options.