We asked you to submit your questions to candidates standing in the 2024 General Election.
From all your submissions, we chose 10 that represented the broad issues you wanted answers to.
We asked every candidate we had contact details for to respond.
We’ll be publishing them in the run-up to the General Election with the responses from the candidates who replied from each constituency.
These are the answers are from candidates standing in the Carlisle constituency.
What will you and your party do to look at second homes in tourism hotspots, which are stopping local people getting on the property ladder?
Julie Minns, Labour
It is important that we maintain a balance in Cumbria between the needs of providing tourist accommodation and the needs of the local population.
Ensuring people have access to affordable homes will be one of our key priorities which will see us act on targets to see one and a half million new homes built within the first five years of a Labour government. This will deliver the biggest boost to affordable housing in a generation and will also ensure there are first dibs for first-time buyers.
Gavin Hawkton, Green Party
I see the impact this has had in the Lake District where locals are being steadily pushed out.
Across the country we need limit the number of second homes and holiday lets, prioritising housing for locals.
In terms of action, I would like to see the highest available council tax applied to second homes to raise funds for local services and tackle housing shortages.
Brian Wernham, Liberal Democrats
Residents in second homes are not counted towards funding for local health services – this is something that I want to get sorted out.
The Liberal Democrat-run Westmorland and Furness Council has taken measures to address the issue of second homes in tourism hotspots.
I have ensured that small holiday mobile home owners do not pay a second home tax on their temporary structures. I did this in my existing role on the Cumberland Business & Resources Committee.
