Yahoo Finance Fight to restrict second home ownership in picture postcard Cornish towns gathers pace
Moves to restrict second home ownership in picture postcard districts of Cornwall are gathering pace.
A cluster of parishes have banded together to try to limit the number of wealthy people from outside the area buying up new builds as holiday homes.
Residents on the Rame peninsula in south east Cornwall fear locals are being priced out of the market by outsiders. They want to follow the lead taken by St Ives which is looking to restrict the building of new homes only if they are reserved for those who live in the area full time.
People in St Ives overwhelmingly voted in a referendum to support the block on anyone who is not a ‘primary resident’ being able to buy a new-build property.
The High Court last week ruled the proposed planning restriction was not a breach of human rights – opening the way for neighbouring local councils and parishes to press ahead with similar restrictions.
Other towns that had already expressed an interest in a similar policy are Mevagissey and Fowey – two areas of Cornwall with a high proportion of holiday homes.
The five parishes on the Rame peninsula – Millbrook, Maker with Rame, St John, Sheviock and Antony – have some of the highest levels of second home ownership in the county and residents said it was time to draw a line in the sand.
According to the most recent figures, one in four homes in St Ives is owned as a second property.
That figure rises to almost two in five in St John and one in three in Maker.
George Trubody, Rame Peninsula Cornwall councillor and chairman of the Rame Peninsula Neighbourhood Plan Parish Cluster Steering Group, said it must be brought under control.
He said: “In order to give local families a chance of having their own home, our first policy was, and still is, a control on future second homes on the peninsula.
“From all the consultation events and evidence gathered, our community is adamant that we have enough second homes and something needs to be done.”
The proposal has now been forwarded to the county council.
