To detest people that think they own beautiful parts of the world?

[Bumpitybumper]

I grew up in a very ugly and undesirable part of the country and now live in a tourist hotspot. I am becoming increasingly frustrated by people that are born and raised here trying to restrict tourism or stop 'outsiders' moving here. The houses are expensive here because it's such a lovely place to live but there isn't much employment except for from tourism. Despite this many locals that I know feel that tourism should be restricted as it makes the town extremely busy in high season. They also think housing should be subsidised for locals.

I feel that there are only so many beautiful places and those lucky enough to be born in them are no more entitled to live and enjoy them than the rest of us who by luck were born elsewhere. This would effectively condemn future people like me to live and visit only the less desirable of areas whilst my children could stay in this lovely area and be subsidised for doing so. It just feels incredibly unfair!

The people who buy the million pound houses will want staff, underlings etc to provide services for them but no one will be able to afford accommodation in the area. So what will the people who require underlings do? Will they keep illegal immigrants in basements as slaves?

I think people who live in London have some claim of ownership of their own residential communities certainly. The city itself, no.

I doubt they have bought Downton Abbey. I suspect the house is a pretty normal size as housing in the Lake District is super desirable because shock horror, lots of people want to live there. Someone with a house worth £1 million will rarely have staff in the UK.

Surely it's fine for anyone to buy the homes so long as they live in them (or at least rent them out full time) rather than keeping them as mostly empty second homes?

I think a county should be able to exclude incomers as long a they also restrict their own children and grandchildren from moving elsewhere. Including London and other big cities where house prices are too high.

But they wouldn't. Because locals wouldn't be priced out of them. Restaurants and shops that rely on the tourist trade are forced to whack up prices in summer and often close in winter. If there's a healthy year-round community, this doesn't happen. It happens precisely because there isn't a healthy year round community, and that happens when 50% or more of some places are holiday lets which aren't used in the winter.

Tourism might be the only economy now in some places, but it wasn't always like that, and part of the reason for that is local councils putting all their eggs in one basket and jumping on the tourism bandwagon.

It becomes a vicious circle. The fishing industry drops off so tourism becomes a big market, but the remaining fishermen are pushed out because the cottages by the harbour are now holiday lets. It was interesting to see on the documentary, 'this fishing life' how Cornish fishermen felt about now having to drive and hour to their boat, and having their place of work invaded every summer by people who treat it like a pretty attraction.

And some tourists actually complain about the working life of their holiday town/village. Not just fishing areas either. As a child, I lived in a small Devon village. Not hugely touristy at the time, it wasn't on the coast and the second home market wasn't a huge thing then, but we did have a few folk who decided to move to the countryside with zero understanding of how it actually works. They bought a summer residence in the heart of farming country and moaned to my stepfather who worked in milk transport about the noise of the tankers going past at 6am. Well, that's when the milk is picked up. What did they want farmers to do, milk the cows later?

I live somewhere everyone suddenly wants to move. There's a distinct lack of rented housing (social and private) for young folk starting out or folk who've secured jobs here, and this is widely known, yet some folk without jobs or any local links still turn up demanding to be housed. Yes, they've a right to come here, just as folk have a right to leave, but they cannot expect to 'jump the queue' because they're making the most noise.

London has the same problem!
Full of tourists, most people who live here now aren't London born and bred, they come in from other places in the UK or abroad for the prospects.
A lot of them bugger off when they have kids of course because housing is too expensive. But those born and bred here, their children can't afford to buy here and have to move away unless bank of M&D can help them out.

in reality, a local who has lived or worked there for 3 years could buy a house and make it a holiday let, whereas we want to build our future there.

This is the heart of it, IMO. If you start second-guessing people's motives/trying to ask or regulate and control what they're going to do in the place, you quite quickly get into very choppy waters.

That being said, I do get that locals being priced out by incomers with more money buying holiday homes is an issue. And I sympathise with the 'Disney' feeling and the sense of living in a theme park. I went to Split a while ago and there were signs on people's fences and gates saying, 'Stop taking photos! This is my home' etc.

I agree with you OP - and it even makes me loathe to visit, never mind move to such a place, however beautiful it is. The thought that people are merely putting up with me for economic reasons and would ideally have me not visit really crushes the spirit. No lovely vistas can compensate for that feeling.

Exactly; we all want freedom to roam but we also want want freedom from the roamers!

It's not what the OP is asking but I don't quite agree with that. I also live in the Lake District and rural areas need all the same jobs and services urban ones do. I have a job which isn't tourism related and the jobs my friends do include college administrator, solicitor, social worker, council officer, civil sevant, teacher, charity worker, nurse, teaching assistant etc.

Obviously there are lots of hospitality jobs but plenty of people work outside that sector.

I've both been priced out of where I grew up and live in a different (cheaper but busier) tourist hotspot. So I have mixed feelings. We've considered downsizing to where we grew up but we have a family of 4 in a 3 bed semi and we feel a 2 bed flat (all we could afford) wouldn't be big enough. It's really hard being so far from elderly relatives. I also envy local friends who have a family network. I like where we live, it is beautiful and it's very close to what I experienced growing up. But I don't think we will ever belong here. Not deep down in our heart. I don't begrudge others being able to afford it. We're just an ordinary family with an average income so we're incredibly lucky to live where we do. Our dream is to move home, but it's unlikely to happen.

Locals are generally on low incomes. This would be even more true if there was no tou They aren't people that are being priced out of eating out etc because of tourists. They simply don't have the money for such luxuries. The high street would suffer hugely if tourists disappeared and it would go the way that other similar town centres have gone that don't have such a strong tourist trade. Lots of boarded up shops and restaurants.

Employment in the surrounding, less touristy areas isn't more diverse than my local town. The old big employers have long gone and it has nothing to do with the council prioritising tourism. There aren't enough jobs in fishing and farming to sustain the population. It's just not realistic!

I think a lot of places would love to be like the CI where the restrictions are crazy.

In Jersey, if you aren't a Jersey bean, and are only a registered resident not entitled or licenced, then you are restricted to only being allowed to rent certain properties. Licenced people can rent most properties and depending on the terms of the licence, may be able to buy qualified properties.

Same as jobs, unless the employer is willing to obtain a permit for you and make you a licenced resident, you are only registered and are restricted to what jobs you can apply for as a registered resident. You have to have been residing and working there for 10 years before you can apply for entitled status so you are free to apply for any job or buy any property.

Then of course there are high value residencies, which can be granted to people who they think will make a valued social or economic impact on the island.

I’m afraid the privilege that you clearly feel does not seem to allow you to see how cruelly selfish you’re being. Your logic denies people the chance to live near their families; it denies them access to somewhere familiar where they have roots. It means that they cannot access the employment that is available because they are forced to live too far away. Currently many tourist areas cannot find staff because there aren’t people living near enough.
Tourists don’t always bring money with them. In my experience increasing numbers shop in the big supermarkets before they arrive and bring little or nothing to the local economy. Campervans don’t even pay for a site to stay on in some cases. They park illegally on the side of the road leaving their rubbish.
Holiday homes are a menace leaving many touristy hotspots desolate out of season and pricing local people out of the market. National Park authorities don’t help with their building restrictions being for holiday homes, much better to allow building for houses that must be occupied 365 days of the year.

People who moan about price rises in their area - what do you think happens in London? How do you think young people buy their first home 'near to their family and the community they drew up in' in parts of London. where a one bed flat is £500k? Answer - they don't. They have to move away.

Nobody or their children has a right to live anywhere. Nobody owns anywhere. Prices rise with demand - think yourselves lucky if your house prices rocket. Would you rather live somewhere in negative equity?

I agree. I live in central London which I think was the second most visited city in the world last year. It does get very crowded in the summer but I missed the tourists during covid. I was born in a random hospital and then moved around a lot so I’m not sure where I would be allowed to live according to the born and bred only types. Fortunately, London takes all comers, so long as they can afford it!

Yes and God knows where immigrants are supposed to live.

The 'born and bred types' need to get with the rest of the world, frankly. Everything changes.

It's absolutely not entitlement to want to be able to afford to stay in the community you, your parents, grandparents etc were born in and where all your friends are.

It IS entitled to believe that affordabliity should be the primary criteria for determining whether or not people get to stay in a desirable "beauty spot" and that having people having more money than others trumps local (typically less monied) communities having a say in preserving the very things that make their landscapes and communities precious in the first place.

Tell me you are clueless about rural life and rural communities without telling me...

I do love London over Christmas, so many people leave!

This is a local mountain for local people.

I agree to an extent but locals do need affordable housing too