# A good example of why second homes should be controlled...



## bluestreak (Feb 14, 2008)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/7243278.stm


----------



## Crispy (Feb 14, 2008)

Disgraceful. That housing could be, you know, HOUSING people


----------



## Fuzzy (Feb 18, 2008)

newquay has seen a massive explosion of the amounts of flats that are being built in the town. seems the holiday makers that used to use shitty b and b's or crap hotels are buying their own flats instead. seaside town isnt it. cant think of many people in cornwall that would actually choose to live in newquay anyway. full of pissed up stag and hen weekends for pretty much the whole year.


----------



## cliche guevara (Feb 18, 2008)

These cunts with the second homes will be the same cunts that are writing to my local rag to complain about the 10000 new homes proposed to be built around here over the next decade.


----------



## marty21 (Feb 18, 2008)

there was something in the papers at the weekend about the scilly isles, how the place is dead in the winter as all the holiday home owners leave, and how locals can't afford to buy homes there as the average income is one of the lowest in britain  - can't find the link

strikes me that second home owners are destroying communities and if a house crash does come, these communities might just benefit from it, if houzse prices go into freefall - the government could help by doubling or trebling council tax on 2nd homes (they're not going to do that though)


----------



## jæd (Feb 18, 2008)

And this is considered "news" in Cornwall...?  

Personally, I'd be encouraging the Govt to introduce tax breaks for building more affordable housing, rather pandering to the "Ban-It Ban-It" brigade...


----------



## madzone (Feb 18, 2008)

marty21 said:


> there was something in the papers at the weekend about the scilly isles, how the place is dead in the winter as all the holiday home owners leave, and how locals can't afford to buy homes there as the average income is one of the lowest in britain - can't find the link
> 
> strikes me that second home owners are destroying communities and if a house crash does come, these communities might just benefit from it, if houzse prices go into freefall - the government could help by doubling or trebling council tax on 2nd homes (they're not going to do that though)


 
We used to move into garden sheds in the Summer 

It's not so much second homes in scilly as holiday lets. Tourism is the only industry left. I'm not sure about the lowest income though


----------



## madzone (Feb 18, 2008)

jæd said:


> And this is considered "news" in Cornwall...?
> 
> Personally, I'd be encouraging the Govt to introduce tax breaks for building more affordable housing, rather pandering to the "Ban-It Ban-It" brigade...


Yeah, let's fill up cornwall's beautiful countryside with even more buildings


----------



## madzone (Feb 18, 2008)

bluestreak said:


> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/7243278.stm


From the TV news item on it it seems that the building has restricted use - i.e it can only be used for a certain amount of time per year so is only useful for holiday lets etc. If that's the case I don't know how she manages to live there full time though  It may be because every new building development in cornwall has to include a percentage of affordable housing ( a very low percentage iirc)


----------



## marty21 (Feb 18, 2008)

madzone said:


> We used to move into garden sheds in the Summer
> 
> It's not so much second homes in scilly as holiday lets. Tourism is the only industry left. I'm not sure about the lowest income though



ok, holiday lets - still reduces the homes that locals can afford to live in - but i guess that if there wasn't any holiday lets-  the economy over there would be even worse?


----------



## jæd (Feb 18, 2008)

madzone said:


> Yeah, let's fill up cornwall's beautiful countryside with even more buildings



So where should the resident population of Cornwall live...? In holes...?  

Unless more homes are built then the people of Cornwall will continue to have (unequall) pressure from people moving in. One solution would be to build affordable homes in a compact place. Ie, blocks of flats. 

And yep, it might not look nice in one area, but if you don't do it then local people will be squashed out...


----------



## madzone (Feb 18, 2008)

marty21 said:


> ok, holiday lets - still reduces the homes that locals can afford to live in - but i guess that if there wasn't any holiday lets- the economy over there would be even worse?


The economy isn't actually that bad. Apart from housing people over there are fairly well off. If they lost tourism though it'd be a different matter entirely.


----------



## madzone (Feb 18, 2008)

jæd said:


> So where should the resident population of Cornwall live...? In holes...?
> 
> Unless more homes are built then the people of Cornwall will continue to have (unequall) pressure from people moving in. One solution would be to build affordable homes in a compact place. Ie, blocks of flats.
> 
> And yep, it might not look nice in one area, but if you don't do it then local people will be squashed out...


 
If govt made it less attractive for people to buy second homes the locals could move back into the ghost villages. Why build more blots on the landscape when there is physically enough proprety to house the indigenous population?

I've seen an estate agents who have notices in their windows stating that they will NOT sell a property to someone looking to buy a second home so don't bother coming in if that's what you're after 

We need more of that.


----------



## marty21 (Feb 18, 2008)

madzone said:


> I've seen an estate agents who have notices in their windows stating that they will NOT sell a property to someone looking to buy a second home so don't bother coming in if that's what you're after
> 
> We need more of that.



true, but if a property isn't selling as locals can't afford it, eventually that estate agent will sell to a second homer - it's their business to sell houses afterall - if there was legislation outlawing second homes, or limiting them to a certain percentage of available homes - that might increase the number of affordable homes - it would bring down the prices


----------



## SpookyFrank (Feb 18, 2008)

madzone said:


> I've seen an estate agents who have notices in their windows stating that they will NOT sell a property to someone looking to buy a second home so don't bother coming in if that's what you're after



My mum sold our old house in Devon to some folks who said they wanted it as a family home. Brought their kids round to look at it and everything. We didn't want to sell to investors or second home types so we sold the place for a bit less than we might have got for it on the basis that someone would be living there. We hear later from our old neighbours that no family has moved in, the place is just being gutted to sell it on for more money. Apparently the owner is being a total cunt with noisy construction work at all hours and parking his van so it blocks the public footpath down the side of the house all day. Now we feel like we've screwed over our neighbours as well as getting conned by an areshole of a developer 

So yeah, bear in mind that people who see a sign like that may simply lie to you. Show me a property developer with any fucking moral standards whatsoever and I'll show you the royal porcine flying corps.


----------



## madzone (Feb 18, 2008)

marty21 said:


> true, but if a property isn't selling as locals can't afford it, eventually that estate agent will sell to a second homer - it's their business to sell houses afterall - if there was legislation outlawing second homes, or limiting them to a certain percentage of available homes - that might increase the number of affordable homes - it would bring down the prices


 
This lot really won't sell to a second homer. It doesn't seem to be adversely affecting their business as locals are going to them.


----------



## SpookyFrank (Feb 18, 2008)

[rerail]

Only recently has it been decided to charge second home owners the the same council tax as everyone else. Which is fair enough when you consider the pressure tourists put on local infrastructures in places like the South West without contributing themselves, leaving locals with disproportionate council tax bills to go with their disproportionate mortgage payments. It's high time there were some genuine penalties for owning a house and leaving it vacant, whether it's as an investment or a second home. Double council tax sounds about right.


----------



## madzone (Feb 18, 2008)

SpookyFrank said:


> Double council tax sounds about right.


Double council tax and a minimum occupation requirement would be even better.


----------



## _angel_ (Feb 18, 2008)

If there was some way of persuading people to do more of a french system (hiring a holiday home for a few weeks while the owner stays elsewhere) rather than just buying homes that stand empty and contribute to locals unable to live in their own villages/ towns.


----------



## Fuzzy (Feb 18, 2008)

madzone said:


> Double council tax and a minimum occupation requirement would be even better.



how would you enforce a minimum occupation requirement and what could you do if the occupant wasnt there for as long as tehy should have been? i cant see anyone saying "its a fair cop guv, please take my house away from me".


----------



## jæd (Feb 18, 2008)

marty21 said:


> if houzse prices go into freefall...



You'd have a major recession on your hands and people wouldn't need any help selling their second homes...



marty21 said:


> - the government could help by doubling or trebling council tax on 2nd homes (they're not going to do that though)



Unlikely. It would be incredibly unpopular for either Labour or Tory.


----------



## jæd (Feb 18, 2008)

Fuzzy said:


> how would you enforce a minimum occupation requirement and what could you do if the occupant wasnt there for as long as tehy should have been? i cant see anyone saying "its a fair cop guv, please take my house away from me".



Yep... I can't see this one working either...


----------



## madzone (Feb 18, 2008)

Fuzzy said:


> how would you enforce a minimum occupation requirement and what could you do if the occupant wasnt there for as long as tehy should have been? i cant see anyone saying "its a fair cop guv, please take my house away from me".


 
The same way they police properties with a maximum occupancy requirement I s'pose


----------



## Fuzzy (Feb 18, 2008)

madzone said:


> The same way they police properties with a maximum occupancy requirement I s'pose



and thats how then?


----------



## madzone (Feb 18, 2008)

Fuzzy said:


> and thats how then?


I dunno - but they do.

That block of flats in the OP has a maximum occupancy stipulation on it. Lots of developments down here have maximum occupancy stipulations on them - they must police it somehow


----------

