Cumbrian MP Tim Farron has outlined his seven-point plan to tackle the housing crisis he says is created by “excessive” second home ownership.
This afternoon, Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron led a debate in Parliament on the issue.
During his speech, Tim presented a seven-point plan to limit the number of second homes and make more affordable homes available for local families:
- Make second homes and holiday lets new and separate categories of planning use. This would mean that councils and national parks would have the power to put a limit on the number of such properties in each town and village, protecting the majority of houses for permanent occupation.
- Provide targeted, ring-fenced finance so that planning departments have the resources to effectively police this new rule.
- Give councils the power to increase council tax by up to 100% on second homes in the worst affected communities – this would serve to protect those communities and it would also generate revenue that could then be ploughed back into their threatened schools and into new affordable housing for local families.
- Force all holiday let owners to pay council tax, rather than avoiding paying anything at all if they are deemed a small business.
- Give councils and national parks the power to ensure that 100% of new builds are genuinely affordable.
- Ban section 21 no-fault evictions.
- Ensure that platforms like Airbnb aren’t allowed to cut corners and undermine the traditional holiday let industry, and have to meet the same standards as other rentals.
Speaking in the debate, Tim said: “I have spoken to MPs from rural communities from across this house – most of whom are currently Conservatives – and they all privately agree that this is a catastrophe.
“They see it in their own constituencies. The collapse of affordable, available housing for local communities is killing towns and villages in Cornwall, Northumberland, Shropshire, Devon, Somerset, North Yorkshire, in the Highlands, in rural Wales as well as in Cumbria.
“What our rural communities want from the minister today is two things: a sign that he understands that this catastrophe is actually happening and secondly, a commitment to act and to act right now.”
In response, the Housing Minister Christopher Pincher said: “The honourable member offered seven solutions. We recognise that the large number of second homes and holiday lets can have adverse effects in some areas so I will look closely at the proposals that he has tabled.
“But I’m bound to say to him that making changes to planning law to make second homes and holiday lets separate categories in planning use, though it has some attractions, also has some significant drawbacks.”
Instead, the minister pledged to start a consultation later this year on a “tourist accommodation registration scheme in England, so we can build our understanding of the evidence and issues that second homes present, particularly driven by the rise of online platforms such as Airbnb”.
Responding, Tim said: “I welcome the review that he talks about. That’s all good, but it’s all we got.
“I was not overwhelmed by a tidal wave of urgency – in fact, quite the opposite.
“I want to say to the minister that inaction is action. It’s action on behalf of those who have multiple homes, against our communities.
“I want to see an awful lot more than we saw today because in the time it takes for this review to take place, those communities I talked about which are at risk of dying will actually be dead.”
