Can we stop our house becoming a holiday home?

[Paracharisto]

DH and I have retired to a beautiful and very popular coastal town. We bought this house in 2009 for £500k. It’s now worth around £1.5mil. Most houses around us are now holiday homes for wealthy London professionals or are owned by one local old family.

If we sell this house, how can we ensure it doesn’t become a holiday home? Sure we could pick the buyer but what’s to stop them selling it down the line?

We’d like the house to be used as a family home or a retirement home but not a holiday home. We’d be willing to take a big hit financially as the £1mil we have in equity growth is completely unearnt. It’s never going to be a house that those who struggle most to get on the local property ladder will be able to afford, but it would be an amazing home for someone in the community.

How many locals do you know can afford £1.5m?

Our sellers wanted to sell to a family not for use as a holiday home. They went with us because we fitted the bill.

19 years later we are still here. I would do similar if wanting to sell

Here we go. “Just give it to a local family. Stop squirrelling away your wealth, you greedy arsehole.”

😂 Classic Mumsnet.

But seriously, there’s fuck all you can do, OP.

I know of someone who left a plot of land to the council stipulating it be used as an open access space for the village. The council sold it to developers, it's now a housing estate.

Say no? What's so difficult about that? "No you can't stay."

You can absolutely do this.

Go to a solicitor and get a restrictive covenant on it.

You can also ask them at the same time about how you can enforce it. Then periodically check on air b&b.

I'd also be present at viewings and mention the covenant(s) - that it's not to be used as a second home or rented out. If people know you care about it they're less likely to risk it.

Covenants are difficult to get rid of once they're in place.

In Devon, I'd often see houses advertised under the "Devon rule" - meaning that only someone who had worked or lived in Devon for at least three years could buy it.

Not a guarantee that it won't be used as a holiday home, but cuts down the likelihood. You could find out if there are any similar schemes in your area, or if you could set up something similar.

Completely different but when I sold my house I wanted it to go to a family. Not long after they turned it into a HMO. I painstakingly restored it back to its Victorian design for it to be ripped out by the new owners. It broke my heart knowing all the blood, sweat and tears I'd put in.

Why can't you remain living in the house as your forever home?

Perhaps the current value is based on the very potential of it becoming a holiday home?

You can do it. If you speak to a decent solicitor they will be able to guide you on how to do this.

Ask the council to add a covenant for it to be a local worker property only. Will devalue it massively.

I

This. Tbh it sounds like you are too attached to it to sell.

If it’s in Suffolk - we are looking for our next family home :)

Interesting thread.

A house that is being sold by a charity has just come up in my town. It looks as if an elderly person died having bequeathed it to the charity in their will. It says on the RightMove particulars that the house will not be taken off the market until exchange. It also says that there are restrictions in place which makes me wonder what they are. Could be something like this! We are in a costal place in the South West.

You can't

They'll buy it cheaply then sell it in a years time for something bigger with the profit they make to someone who probably does want a holiday home

Just let it go

Directly? No. Indirectly? Vote for a political party that wants to fix the housing crisis.

Many coastal and holiday areas now use planning conditions to stop properties being used as holiday homes. You could check whether that’s happening near you.

Would you take a huge price drop to sell to a local?

Agreed. You would want it to be well drafted and really think about what it is you want to stop... And also how you would enforce it...

You would also need to get estate agent advice on impact on value.

Another option might be to retain the freehold and just sell a long leasehold with use restrictions in it and retain control that way.

It's worth noting though that covenants can be varied or removed down the line ...

Another alternative might be to talk to a local housing association about options (I suggest a small charitable one not one of the mammoth ones). I used to work for a housing charity that had been set up by someone who felt she wanted to pay back her good fortune by buying several houses for local people who couldn't otherwise afford to remain in the area

Trouble is, most people would buy it at a reduced price and flog it for massive profit - i would!

speak to your solicitor and put a clause on it? covenant as someone said above?

once its sold - it isnt your house anymore - or your problem?!

As will the house be for the OP, I imagine 😂

I imagine many people will be interested in a house that is restricted to residents only - that's great thing to do OP. I don't see a real issue - a local solicitor will advise if a covenant is possible.

Talk to your solicitor about adding a restrictive covenant, which is entirely achievable.

More people should be doing this; turning homes into Airbnbs means that more houses need to be built on greenfield sites to compensate.

Both I and a close friend have been evicted by landlords who wanted to turn our homes into Airbnbs - and we're not even in a touristy area, just a mid size city.

I think you can do this. I have family that live in a pretty coastal town and the parade of houses next to them has something in place that says they cannot be used as holiday homes - I'm assuming a restrictive covenant ?

Why are you so concerned? It’s not your business once the property has sold.
It’s like you saying you don’t want to sell your home to a BTL investor?