'The growing number of holiday lets is affecting community cohesion'
A Devon woman has told us her only option to remain local is to stay in a different holiday let each week
Last updated 29th Sep 2022
There's calls for councils in Devon to get new powers to stop increasing numbers of homes being turned into holiday lets, which a report suggests has become a “major problem".
It's believed almost every other property in Georgeham in North Devon - near Croyde - is now a holiday home with one street, over the Winter, only having one person living there.
North Devon Council says the growing situation is affecting community cohesion in their response to the government’s call for evidence on short-term holiday homes.
It was set up following concern from local authorities and MPs that their increasing numbers are impacting the housing market.
There has been at least 435 homes in the district being changed from permanent residential use to holiday lets - a figure likely to be higher as it is claimed many properties are not registered for business rates.
'Anecdotal evidence' shows tenants have been evicted from permanent lets so the properties to be used as holiday lets - as well as 142 no fault evictions in the last two financial years.
The council says data from property websites shows the number of properties available for permanent letting in North Devon shrank two-thirds (67 per cent) in the two years to August 2021.
According to the council, second homes and holiday lets now make up more than a quarter of all homes in Instow, West Down, Countisbury, Trentishoe and Martinhoe, while in Mortenhoe (47 per cent) and Georgeham (45 per cent) the proportion is almost half.
Ken Miles, Chief Executive Officer for North Devon Council says: “Our response to the Call for Evidence highlights some pretty startling and worrying statistics. That is being borne out by council officers receiving an increased number of calls to help people being evicted or suffering nuisance as a result of residential properties being used for holiday lets.
"I must stress that we are not against holiday lets as they do have a part to play in the local economy, but there has to be balance and it is clear that an over proliferation of holiday lets can have a negative impact on individuals and communities. North Devon Council is calling for additional powers to licence and regulate holiday lets through the planning system so that an appropriate balance can be struck.”
The council response says: "The question only asks for the benefits of short term holiday lets for Homeowners – Undoubtedly, the ease of availability of holiday letting websites has enabled some homeowners to create a new income stream. However there is a misconception that this is a quant cottage industry where homeowners let out a room or two to supplement their income. Whilst that was no doubt the original ethos of the websites, the reality has moved on. There are many “hosts” that own a number of properties purchased specifically to let out for holiday purposes.
"Whilst homeowners that rent their properties for holiday purposes will benefit it is difficult to see how other homeowners in the area benefit. There are many disadvantages which are referred to in later answers.
Consumers – Consumers certainly benefit from a greater choice of accommodation offers. There will be people for whom a stay in a hotel or guest house is simply not suitable and so undoubtedly the use of Air BnB will have expanded the tourism market in the area but it is impossible to say by what extent.
"However, whilst traditional holiday accommodation businesses are regulated in a number of ways, someone that wishes to let out a room or let out their property as a short term holiday let is not. That presents particular risks for consumers who have no regulations to rely on to ensure their safety.
Businesses and wider economy – Many tourist related businesses have not been able to take advantage of increasing visitor numbers as they are not able to staff their businesses due, in part, to issues relating to the lack of housing in key tourist areas. There are examples of businesses having to provide staffing accommodation themselves in order to attract staff."
Below are two case studies which the council submitted as part of its evidence:
Fiona’s story – losing her home to a holiday let.
On 2nd Feb Fiona got a letter from her landlord telling her that he had sold the property to a new landlord, but not to worry as the new landlord had given assurances that nothing would change except the rent might rise slightly. Fiona’s rent hadn’t risen for a while, so she accepted that and thought little more about it.
However, on 10th Feb 2022 Fiona received a letter from her new landlord informing her that her rent was being increased from £550 per month to £875 per month. In the same letter she was given 3 options.
- Accept the new rent and stay in her home.
- Do not accept the new rent and move out immediately.
- Do not accept it, do not leave and I would be evicted.
She was told that if she did accept the new rent, that she could pay 6 months in advance with a discount of 2.5%, or she could pay 12 months in advance with a discount of 5%, of course Fiona had the money for neither option, her savings were limited, that is why she was renting in the first place.
Fiona didn't reply to this ultimatum straight away and on the 14th Feb 2022, she was issued with a Section 21 and told she had to be out by 14th April 2022. The reason she was given for having to vacate her home was that the landlord wanted to bring in NHS staff that wanted to work in the area and would need somewhere to stay.
She left the property, but no NHS staff materialised. The next thing she noticed was her former home being advertised on Airbnb and then subsequently Booking.com where it currently is advertised as a holiday let.
Fiona was one of 7 families that lived in the building who were evicted. She has a new place to live but is struggling at the moment, as her new flat is a lot smaller than her old home and the rent is now almost £100 a month more.
She was told her home would not be used as holiday lets, but the landlord simply lied. He obviously had every intention of turning her home into a holiday let.
Fiona now sees her old home constantly advertised on the What's on Combe Martin Web page and she feels constantly reminded of the way she has been treated. It was Fiona’s home for 5 years and she was really happy there. Her life totally disrupted so a greedy developer can profit from the holiday boom.
Amanda’s story - Mourning a lost community
It is with great sadness that I have to report on the death of a community, namely my street and alongside that, my village. Ok, so not a death, maybe more an amputation, or a choking or a severing of an artery. So, what do we do in any type of emergency....and the obvious answer is act quickly. This looming death has been long in the making, but recent world events have increased the speed of the decline.
A street of 28 houses and only 10 used a primary home. It hasn't always been this way. Only one when I moved here 28 years ago, and this has been replicated around the whole village, in the older areas of the village, in streets built 20 years ago and now whole swathes of new builds. We now have in excess of 65% not lived-in homes - the balance is tipped in favour of second homes and holiday lets in residential streets. Interestingly, this has happened despite a national holiday park developing over the years to provide more camping pitches, more static caravans, luxury lodges and even glamping. Likewise, the somewhat historic Unison Resort has undergone extensive investment to provide varied and modern accommodation. So how do we stem the loss of community and why should you want to? Well, not everyone who ever lived here actually worked here and not every household took a seasonal lodger - but many did. However, this cannot happen with second homes or short-term holiday lets, so the housing stock is depleted despite more residential homes built over the years. This is exacerbated by some letting agents forcing owners to commit to 12-month contracts, preventing even 6-month winter lets for locals out of season, just in case a holiday booking comes in. For this reason, we now reap the painful reward of not having enough lifeguards to fulfil the annual RNLI quota, not enough rooms to rent for seasonal hospitality workers, problems recruiting locally based community First Responders and Coastguards, not to mention the elderly lady with no permanent neighbour in the four houses beside her, who knows no one will hear her shouts if she should fall. Then there is the primary school with falling numbers, often a fluctuating scenario, but a lack of families living here does not bode well. This is a balance that needs to be redressed, an emergency that needs to be tended to before the life force is lost. This area is a tourist hot spot and for that reason, dedicated tourist accommodation needs to be celebrated and given fair treatment. However, this is not the case. Anything, from a small cottage to a luxury new build, can set up as a small business and, whilst draining the community, it also competes with genuine, law abiding tourist accommodation without any need to apply for change of use from a residential home, adhere to any health and safety regulations or contribute to council tax or business rates (can be reclaimed). Everything is weighted in favour of the second home/ holiday let and yet it poses a threat to the very core of communities and businesses in tourist areas.
Given all of this, I ask that, as a matter of urgency, you consider an immediate implementation of council tax in excess of 300% on all second homes/holiday lets. This could be followed by legislation to require planning consent for use of residential homes as holiday businesses, plus a cap to ensure that an agreed ratio is never exceeded. In addition, planning requests for any building work should be more mindful of the impact of holiday lets in residential streets e.g. a two-bedroom bungalow becoming a five-bedroom, four-bathroom house filling a small plot with parking for one car (as similar to a recent property in Sandy Way). The lack of parking, use of the property and subsequent price hike are all detrimental to primary homeowners who should be able to, within reason, live a quiet, working (or retired) existence in a residential street where tourists enjoy holidaying/ hot tubs and late nights in nearby dedicated tourist accommodation and, in return, the community thrives and supports the essential services that every town and village rightly deserves. Please do all you can to resuscitate our dying communities.