Second-homer wanting to be part of the community

[IMustConfess]

I live in a village on the coast in a semi-rural area. It's a place where people come to live for a relatively quiet life with great walks, fresh air and unspoiled beaches. Lots of artists and writers and gardeners.

Two years ago a couple from London bought the small detached property next door to me. It's a holiday home for them and their friends and family. They're in their 50s, clearly used to a busy lifestyle in London. Lots of talk of theatre and gigs and nice restaurants. They moved in and invited a few locals to dinner and said they wanted to get involved with whatever's going on. They clearly expected to be invited back to eat with everyone and were surprised when some didn't reciprocate. 'But we were told there was a great community here!' They went round knocking on lots of doors and introducing themselves and saying how much they wanted to be involved, but they're probably only here for 10 weeks of the year max. One of my neighbours was really pissed off by it. She said it was like they had an idea of country life they'd got from a TV drama.

When their families come down independently they knock on my door and introduce themselves and say how wonderful that we're all such good friends/ such a lovely community and seem to expect to be invited in and given tea and told what's on. If there's something happening they want me to take them along. They've clearly been told I'll be happy to include them.

This year the husband's been working away a lot and so the wife has been coming down on her own. She always messages me a day or two before she's due to arrive and announces she's coming and wants to know what's on in 'the community'. She messages me when she's arrived so I know she's arrived safely. 😱She expects to be included in anything I've got going on. I took her to my book group when she was down in the summer, and now she expects to be included and tries to get us to schedule our meet-ups for when she's here.

When I moved here I got to know people slowly and worked out who I got on with. My neighbours seem to think friendship comes on a plate and everyone loves them. We have friends who live next door to an AirBnB and say something similar: many of the people who rent the place want to talk to them as if they're friends and happy to spend half an hour telling them which coastal walk is most scenic or which local pub does the best beer. We live here: we're not tourist information or rent-a-mate.

Are we the unreasonable ones? What's going on with people that they think they can just waltz into a new area and everyone'll love them?

This
You are clearly very anti 2nd homers OP and seem to be particularly unwelcoming

I think you’ll find Islington and Brixton both contain a very high proportion of council housing. Do you mean middle class locals have been pushed out?

Warms the cockles of your heart doesn’t it. Probably would have taken OP 2 mins to text the gutter man, yet hours on end to bitch the neighbours out on MN!

Spot on

OK Tubs

Perhaps you should be grateful they don’t live there all the time! She sounds a nightmare.
plus she seems a bit dense - doesn’t occur to her that 2nd homers might not be welcome in a village.
if I was her (unlikely) I would be polite and friendly and not impose myself.

If it so easy, why can't the home owner do it?

Of course I could! Tell me which bit you don’t understand and I’ll have another go at explaining…

Clueless. You really think everyone born and brought up in a village owned their own house? Loads of people rented. They have been pushed out.

People wouldn't accept that here, it might lower prices!

Clueless. You think everyone selling their house to outsiders didn't own it?
I'm talking about villagers selling homes to incomers.
Their choice.

Blimey. Folk just don't understand basics of the housing market.
If you buy a house in a village - someone has willingly sold it to you......

Precisely. We currently live in a lovely leafy suburb, which has become totally unaffordable in the 5 years we have lived here. We would be hypocrites to denounce the price rises, knowing that we are key beneficiaries when we come to sell. Based on this thread, I’m sorely tempted to instruct the agents that we will only accept offers from Londoners or internationals, definitely no villagers trying to make a buck on the London market. Sound fair to you? 😂

It’s actually got a bit tiring now. Basic house price rise principles seem to complex to grapple with. My best mate always says you can’t argue with stupid. 😂

I think you'll find the waiting list for social housing in these areas is over ten years, the housing goes into disrepair and private regeneration projects arise totally displacing families and communities that have lived in these areas for years. Or, are you going to deny gentrification has happend in London now 🤣

Were the landlords who sold up not local people?

From what I've seen many rural rental properties are owned by local landowners, local people who are renting out deceased estate properties or full-time, long-term incomers who, with the equity released from city homes and pensions, buy a little rental property to provide an income.

What people? Are you spokesperson for all Londoners born and grew up there that have had to move away now?

People who rent get pushed out in all parts of the country, not just villages, that’s the nature of a rising market and being a tenant. These rises benefit most home owners, even ones in villages. If you want to address the inequality of this in your village, ask vendors to price down properties to sell to yocals?

Quite. I think I'm done now! Enjoy the rest of your evening, and good luck to you and any other posters trying to explain the principles of house pricing in the UK.....

It’s bewildering isn’t it @LeticiaMorales ?
Greedy villagers = good
Evil 2nd home owners = bad
WTF?

Try renting a rural property on Exmoor.
Local landlords don't want to rent to blow-ins. They'll ignore you, not turn up for viewings and then let to a local person. Even trying to rent there through the National Trust is impossible. Even if you offer to pay a year's rent in advance.
It's a closed shop.

The only way for an incomer to rent on Exmoor is via a blow-in who has bought property to let or a second home owner who doesn't use the property any more.

Nah, I’m out as well. Lovely to bump into another native North Londoner on MN. 🙌

Surely that's largely to do with larger factors, such as the move away from an industrial/manufacturing economy? In 1970 it accounted for over 20% of the GDP and is now down to under 10 (I believe).

Without those sources of income, villages can't sustain themselves.

I was speaking generally, about the UK house pricing system not being controlled.
No need for sarcasm.

Yay! 🙌