18th
Feb 2022
ITV News recently obtained figures which suggest that one of the country's most popular holiday locations has as many Airbnb’s listings as it has homeless families.
The figures from CPRE-The Countryside Charity- is based on data from local authorities and shows that Airbnb and similar tourist platforms listings for short term holiday lets in Cornwall over the last five years, increased by 661 per cent and currently stands at 15,000 listings.
CPRE states there were around 15,000 families in Cornwall on the council’s social housing lists in September 2021. The charity says families are unable to find homes as so many PRS homes have switched to the far more lucrative tourist clientele.
The charity studied data on Airbnb and similar holiday short let sites and found that 148,000 homes could have ‘homed’ families or previously did let their properties to local households.
CPRE chief executive Crispin Truman says: “There simply has to be a government response to the fact that our rural housing supply is disappearing into an unregulated short-term rentals market that simply didn’t exist six years ago.”
The charity demands far more stringent rules and control on second home ownership and joins the band calling on councils to charge higher tax rates on second homes.
It is also pushing for authorities to make it mandatory for short term let properties to apply for planning permission.
The charity’s last rather far-fetched demand is wanting the classification/definition of ‘affordable’ ‘to be changed in national planning policy, by aligning rents to reflect average local income instead of market prices.
Truman adds: “It’s clear the government needs to act fast to avert a growing housing crisis. With the cost of living set to hammer people’s finances in the coming year, this is a problem that’s quickly getting out of hand.
“Across our most traditional rural communities, from the beaches of Cornwall to the lakes of Cumbria, homes that used to be rented to local families sit empty for much of the year. Hard-working people are suffering and they will not easily forgive a government that promised to level them up if it leaves them falling through the cracks of a broken system.”
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