A Cumbrian MP’s bid to stop the ‘explosion’ of second homes in rural England has been defeated – but he has pledged to continue his campaign.
Tim Farron, who represents Westmorland and Lonsdale, put an amendment forward to the Levelling Up Bill Committee this morning to make holiday lets a separate category of planning so local authorities would be able to stop family homes being turned into second homes.
It was defeated by eight votes to five and Mr Farron accused Conservative MPs of ‘fiddling while Rome burns’.
Levelling Up Minister Marcus Jones said Mr Farron had been charmingly persistent in making the case for limits on second homes but that the Government was already taking the issue seriously.
After the vote, Mr Farron said: “In the debate, there were a lot of warm words from the minister but no action, it was clear that the Conservative Government still do not understand the plight of rural towns and villages from Cumbria to Cornwall.
“The amendment I brought forward would have been a silver bullet to tackling this enormous issue but sadly the Conservatives chose to fiddle while Rome burns.
“But I won’t give up and there will be further opportunities for me to make these proposals in the coming weeks.
“Our communities can not be left to turn into ghost towns, while our young people are robbed of the opportunity to afford a home of their own in the place they grew up in and where families are ejected from their homes, devastating our communities and our economy.”
