Are second homes good or bad for Northern Devon? - Tim Jones

This has been a subject which has provoked discussion and fierce divisions over many decades. If we went back to the 1960s, Daphne du Maurier, in amongst all her wonderful and timeless novels, produced a thought piece on how this subject should be addressed in her adopted Cornwall.

There have been many politicians who have tried to tackle this issue. It became a very topical debate at the turn of the century, when politicians traded blows about the merits and disadvantages of this increasing activity. One good example was with the extraordinary village of Fowey, where it was estimated that 30% of all homes were in second home ownership. As a consequence of this, during parts of the year – January and February – the whole community appeared to shut down with many properties being unoccupied.

There has been a recent review of this market in Mawgan Porth, which is near Newquay on the north Cornwall coast. This seemingly quiet resort has recently been dubbed 'Hollywood by the sea'. It appears that it has been targeted by many affluent A-Listers, many from the States who have bought houses recently. These include Jason Statham and Cate Blanchett. It is perhaps intriguing as to why this quiet and friendly hamlet is so popular.

Part of the reason is that it overlooks an award winning sandy bay with world class surfing, it is close to Newquay Airport and a short drive from a range of Michelin-Starred restaurants. Perhaps another reason is that celebrities often tend to move in herds. Whatever the reason might be, there are some very successful local businesses who live off the wealth that this creates.

The problem of course is that this forces property prices in a skyward direction. In Mawgan Porth a 6 bedroom modern detached house is around £3 million. A 3 bedroom cottage is around £750,000. If a local first time buyer was to try and enter this market, then their price limit would be somewhere around the Cornish average property price which is £350,000. In short, areas such as this are too expensive for many locals, either to buy or rent accommodation. Staff at local businesses either have to live-in or travel long distances to get to work. All this at a time when affordable house building is stagnating.

There is a strong argument that second homes bring significant benefits to local economies and that many small businesses are helped enormously by the revenues they generate. It is often the case that this drives up local wages. It is certainly the case that in areas where there are large numbers of second homes, particularly at coastal resorts with marinas where the majority of the local industrial estates are made up of businesses who are supplying goods and services for these investors.

Northern Devon is no stranger to this problem. We all know of many villages which are experiencing similar problems to those in Cornwall.

It also has been a recent trend that Air B&B has been responsible for switching properties from longer term lets to short term, thereby severely impacting upon those in need of a rented home. Many second home owners have reverted to this as a long term and valuable investment. The effect on the market for rented accommodation has been dramatic. In some areas around the South West properties available to rent are put out for tender. This clearly further impacts on those at the bottom of the housing ladder.

So, how can Northern Devon become involved in this debate? Very recently the Devon Housing Taskforce, which is a partnership between 11 Local Authorities across Devon, Plymouth and Torbay, have established “the Housing Commission”. This is supported by the University of Exeter.

The intention is to develop a series of recommendations to address the current broken housing market which exists throughout the whole of the county. Some of the initial evidence collected illustrates the scale of the problem. It appears that there has been an increase of over 10% of second homes across Devon since 2021. In the South Hams, 1 in 11 homes are out of use either being second, holiday or empty homes. In popular holiday resorts, such as Salcombe, these figures rise to between 30-40%.

The main work of the Commission will be to assess the impact on local communities. They also wish to try and inform policy makers as to how first time buyers can get onto the housing ladder and also how to increase the stock of rented accommodation. Here again, the initial findings make grim reading. The number of properties switching from long term to short term letting is increasing. Across the county this is around 50% of all available rental property. In Northern Devon the evidence indicates that the change between 2019 and 2021 was as much as 67%.

So, is this a talk shop which will provoke debate but achieve no meaningful outcome? Many have tried to tackle these issues over a number of decades and failed. It is also necessary to ensure that the benefits of second home ownership are recognised. There are undoubtedly many businesses across Northern Devon who would be worse off if the second home market shrank.

There are probably two practical measures which could be introduced through changes to legislation. The first of these would be a requirement for registration of short term lettings. This would certainly have an impact on the seemingly endless growth of businesses such as Air B&B. The second change would be an amendment to the planning system, whereby any new short term lets would need to be the subject of a formal planning application. This would also allow each Local Authority to determine how many more holiday lettings should be created in their area.

Some Local Authorities have already imposed financial controls on second home owners. There is probably also more that could be done through the tax system. There is also a powerful argument to ensure that second homes which are being used for short term lets are obliged to comply with the same safety and energy efficiency requirements as applies to hotels and Bed & Breakfast accommodation. Very recently, new fire regulations have been imposed which will establish new and much higher standards.

The government have recognised these problems and have given powers to Local Authorities to increase Council Tax on second homes by up to 100%. Where this has been implemented, it is important that the extra revenue raised is ring-fenced to meet local housing shortages.

Whichever side of these arguments you might be on, this is an important subject on which the views of businesses and residents across Northern Devon should be heard. I am happy to collate responses or it is worth responding to the Housing Commission on their website, which is www.exeter.ac.uk/business/southwestregion/devonhousing