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Second home owners could be forced to live in their country properties year-round or rent them out permanently to tenants under radical proposals outlined in a review of village life commissioned by Gordon Brown.

 

Those wishing to buy houses in some of England's most sought-after rural locations should have to apply for planning permission to use them as second homes or holiday lets, according Matthew Taylor, the Liberal Democrat MP who compiled the Living Working Countryside report.

 

Wealthy city workers have frequently been blamed for pricing locals out of the housing market by purchasing second homes that lie empty for much of the year.

The plan has been attacked by the shadow housing minister, Grant Shapps, who dismissed it as "intrusive and difficult to implement".

 

Is there anything wrong with owning a second home?

 

Are temporary residents bad for local communities? Or should people be able to spend their money as they see fit?

 

Is the answer to build more homes in rural areas or to tax purchases of second homes?

 

Source: Sunday Telegraph

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nah... in a free democratic country if you can afford it you can have it. the rural decline has far more to do with economics that a few people owning second homes. i see nothing wrong with people cutting out commuting by having a city home and their real home in the country. it cuts out travel/polution.

If you have a second home which you use regularly or rent out to people then fine, the problem I have is when you get absentee landlordism where properties are left unoccupied for months or years at a time, this has caused a lot of problems over the years....

 

And it is a fact that wealthy city slickers buying up homes in the country is pricing out a lot of the locals who wish to buy homes, something that friends of mine who lived in a small town outside my home city of Dundee were particularly annoyed about... This is something I thought Rob of all people would be absolutely objecting to, seeing as how he's all for the preservation of the countryside and rural life and everything.....

 

No, I cant say I'm a fan of all these rich city types pricing out the genuine locals.....

I think the problem is worse abroad where the GDP is lower like in poor balkan states. I live in a rural area in a national park in a honeypot, and most the houses with pernament residents, so it isn't that much of a problem where i am although there are loads of abandoned houses which might be a good idea to be modernised but it's probably cheaper to build completely new houses.
If you have a second home which you use regularly or rent out to people then fine, the problem I have is when you get absentee landlordism where properties are left unoccupied for months or years at a time, this has caused a lot of problems over the years....

 

And it is a fact that wealthy city slickers buying up homes in the country is pricing out a lot of the locals who wish to buy homes, something that friends of mine who lived in a small town outside my home city of Dundee were particularly annoyed about... This is something I thought Rob of all people would be absolutely objecting to, seeing as how he's all for the preservation of the countryside and rural life and everything.....

 

No, I cant say I'm a fan of all these rich city types pricing out the genuine locals.....

 

the sort of houses rich city types are buying though are out of 'locals' budget.

 

yes i am widely oposed to the 'gentrification' of rural villages, but times have changed. economics have shut down local amenities, schools, post offices, general stores, plus theres no local work. second homes are not the cause of rural decline, economics is, and that is irreversable.

the sort of houses rich city types are buying though are out of 'locals' budget.

 

yes i am widely oposed to the 'gentrification' of rural villages, but times have changed. economics have shut down local amenities, schools, post offices, general stores, plus theres no local work. second homes are not the cause of rural decline, economics is, and that is irreversable.

 

They don't exactly help though, do they...?

 

The way I see it, it's exactly same as all these Yuppie scum moving into historically Working Class areas in cities like London and basically "crowding out" the ordinary folks who now have no realistic hope in hell of affording houses in areas like the East End, Notting Hill, Highbury, Wembley or Camden.. Even places like Holloway, Brixton and Wood Green have become out of the range of ordinary working folks looking to buy...

 

Probably the worst hit have been parts of Wales and Devon..... and whilst I see nothing wrong in owning a second home, it does seem a real shame that the small country villages have been decimated, with hardly any locals living in them.... and like ghost towns for the winter months.
Probably the worst hit have been parts of Wales and Devon..... and whilst I see nothing wrong in owning a second home, it does seem a real shame that the small country villages have been decimated, with hardly any locals living in them.... and like ghost towns for the winter months.

 

Yep, this is the WHOLE problem in a nutshell mate - Gentrification... Absentee residents and landlords who dont even use their properties for about three quarters of the year.. This does nothing to improve the state of local economies and prices the folks born and bred there out of the local housing market....

 

Yep, this is the WHOLE problem in a nutshell mate - Gentrification... Absentee residents and landlords who dont even use their properties for about three quarters of the year.. This does nothing to improve the state of local economies and prices the folks born and bred there out of the local housing market....

 

nope it AINT the cause of the problem, its the consequence of economic rural decline.

nope it AINT the cause of the problem, its the consequence of economic rural decline.

 

Well, I'm sorry mate, but it has to at least be a contributing factor, it's certainly a factor in parts of Wales and Scotland... If you have a whole bunch of people who own holiday homes which they dont use for about nine months of the fukkin' year, that means for nine months of the year this group of people are NOT contributing to local economies or local businesses in any way because they're in their primary homes in the city... How the hell can that NOT have a negative effect on rural economies.....? And even when they DO live there, are they purchasing locally or using their bloody 4x4s to travel to the big Green Belt Supermarket complexes....?

 

I just cannot believe that you're actually defending this sort of sh!t man.....

Well, I'm sorry mate, but it has to at least be a contributing factor, it's certainly a factor in parts of Wales and Scotland... If you have a whole bunch of people who own holiday homes which they dont use for about nine months of the fukkin' year, that means for nine months of the year this group of people are NOT contributing to local economies or local businesses in any way because they're in their primary homes in the city... How the hell can that NOT have a negative effect on rural economies.....? And even when they DO live there, are they purchasing locally or using their bloody 4x4s to travel to the big Green Belt Supermarket complexes....?

 

I just cannot believe that you're actually defending this sort of sh!t man.....

 

but the topic isnt about second homes in remote parts of scenic wales and scotland per-se.. that is a different matter.

 

the topic is about owning second homes, and many second homes are in the city so village dwellers dont have to commute!

 

but even villagers are shopping in supermarkets.. which offer a range of products that a village store simply cannot.

 

im only defending the freedom to buy what you legaly can with your money.. but stopping second holiday homes in villages will NOT halt rural decline, business and modern technology has done that. as i see it, the die has been cast.. theres no going back.

but the topic isnt about second homes in remote parts of scenic wales and scotland per-se.. that is a different matter.

 

the topic is about owning second homes, and many second homes are in the city so village dwellers dont have to commute!

 

Sorry mate, I see it as all part of the same thing....

 

If a rural person needs to rent a flat in the city where they work during the week, well that's okay, but what should definitely NOT be excused are situations of absentee landlordism and properties being vacant for three quarters of the year or more, and I feel that it's this area which needs to be tackled...

 

nope it AINT the cause of the problem, its the consequence of economic rural decline.

 

I'm completed shocked by your attitude on this.

 

The simple fact is there are not enough houses to go around in the UK (due to historic year on year rises in house prices well over and above inflation) is due to supply being squeezed thanks to too many city workers profiteering, which has destroyed the lifestyles of the countryside as children can no longer afford accommodation because it is owned by some London City worker who spends barely 2/3 months of the year in a second home, which then has a further two-fold negative impact on the local countryside economy, as:

 

1) The young local person has to move to urban areas to afford to live and get work

2) The owner of this property is not in the countryside often enough to contribute to the local economy.

I'm completed shocked by your attitude on this.

 

The simple fact is there are not enough houses to go around in the UK (due to historic year on year rises in house prices well over and above inflation) is due to supply being squeezed thanks to too many city workers profiteering, which has destroyed the lifestyles of the countryside as children can no longer afford accommodation because it is owned by some London City worker who spends barely 2/3 months of the year in a second home, which then has a further two-fold negative impact on the local countryside economy, as:

 

1) The young local person has to move to urban areas to afford to live and get work

2) The owner of this property is not in the countryside often enough to contribute to the local economy.

 

i dont know why you are 'shocked'...

 

the main reason for rural decline is due to businesses and lifestyle coices made in the modern era. the rate of rural decline excellerated since the second world war as new farming methods removed the need for so much labour. its the combination of large argi-businesses and supermarkets that have had the main inpact on rural life.

 

things WILL NOT 'return to normal' if second homes are banned. the city businessman with his countryside retreat are not living in the sort of houses a low paid agricultural worker could afford.

 

and like i said to scott, it isnt all about cottages in wales/scotland ... there are many second homes in rural england, there are many second homes in LONDON.

 

sorry but we live in a free democratic society (no comments please scott <_< :lol: ) and we are entitled to spend our money where we legaly can. i do sympathise with the welsh/scottish problem, at that end of the spectrum.. but its not all about that, and if all second homes/country retreats were taken back... the rural economy would still be in decline.

 

village life is dead, its gone forever, towns are also declining, unless there are a varied amount of decent paying jobs in any area... wales, scotland, home counties, then the countryside will continue to be in decline.

It isn't just certain types buying a 'second' home in the country for their own use (albeit for just several months of the year). The thing that prices young locals out is blocks of six, seven eight properties by one investor 'buying to let'. It started years ago with the 'everyone has the right to own their own home' (I wonder who came up with that little gem). However, people weren't satisfied with buying just one home for themselves - they wanted more and more. Everyone wanted to be a bloody landlord.

 

The recent drop in prices in the housing market will do nothing to alleviate the problem. It doesn't make it easier for the first time buyer - as prices are still ridiculously high. All it has done is enable landlords to buy 12 houses / properties whereas a few months ago he could only have bought 10.

 

Does anyone remember years ago when people were advised by banks etc, when planning to buy a home, try not to go above a budget of two-and-a-half times your combined yearly salary? It seems daft now - today - just what the hell would that get the average couple?

 

Norma

Edited by Norma_Snockers

Does anyone remember years ago when people were advised by banks etc, when planning to buy a home, try not to go above a budget of two-and-a-half times your combined yearly salary? It seems daft now - today - just what the hell would that get the average couple?

 

In London...? A tin shack underneath Blackfriars Bridge probably..... :lol: Considering the average wage is about, what, 27K or thereabouts...? I know a married couple who are both teachers, both earning the average teaching wage, one works in Camden, the other in Islington. Guess where they could actually afford to get a mortgage on a house - Hertfordshire..... A LOVELY 90-odd minute commute, each way for both of them... On a good day, sometimes it takes two fukkin' hours or more..... So much for this Govt promising to build affordable homes to buy/rent in the capital for "key public sector workers" such as teachers, nurses, firemen, etc...... <_<

 

I'm completed shocked by your attitude on this.

 

The simple fact is there are not enough houses to go around in the UK (due to historic year on year rises in house prices well over and above inflation) is due to supply being squeezed thanks to too many city workers profiteering, which has destroyed the lifestyles of the countryside as children can no longer afford accommodation because it is owned by some London City worker who spends barely 2/3 months of the year in a second home, which then has a further two-fold negative impact on the local countryside economy, as:

 

1) The young local person has to move to urban areas to afford to live and get work

2) The owner of this property is not in the countryside often enough to contribute to the local economy.

 

I completely agree with this post because I've seen so many examples of this in Scotland...

 

the sort of houses rich city types are buying though are out of 'locals' budget.

 

yes i am widely oposed to the 'gentrification' of rural villages, but times have changed. economics have shut down local amenities, schools, post offices, general stores, plus theres no local work. second homes are not the cause of rural decline, economics is, and that is irreversable.

I'm not against second homes. It's a free market.

 

The problem seems to be that second homes don't pay council tax. So in some areas you have a high proportion of second homes and local services close down because the council have no money and then put a dispropotion of tax on the remaining residents. Some places in Cornwall are in a very bad way hence the situation is being raised by Cornish MP Matthew Taylor. The flaw is in the allocation of resources, introduced by the Conservatives and allowed to continue to decline under a labour government.

 

The simple fact is there are not enough houses to go around in the UK (due to historic year on year rises in house prices well over and above inflation) is due to supply being squeezed thanks to too many city workers profiteering, which has destroyed the lifestyles of the countryside as children can no longer afford accommodation because it is owned by some London City worker who spends barely 2/3 months of the year in a second home, which then has a further two-fold negative impact on the local countryside economy, as:

 

1) The young local person has to move to urban areas to afford to live and get work

2) The owner of this property is not in the countryside often enough to contribute to the local economy.

While I agree with the above I also agree with Mushy that 'its the consequence of economic rural decline.'

A lot of rural people have sold up and moved to more populated areas. That's the way economics have forced them. Is it nice? No. But it is sensible yes.

 

One good thing which may well be happening at the moment is that due to the decline on house prices second home owners are starting to sell up(for many it was an investment and now it doesn't look like a good one). This might lead to the decline in rural house prices and the movement of people back to the rural properties. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few years.

Edited by Justin Credible

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