Padstow is set to ban second home owners from buying new-build houses

Padstow is set to ban second home owners from buying new-build houses amid fears that incomers are pricing out Cornish locals.

The town council is looking to limit the number of second home owners in the area as a way to stop local residents being priced out of the market by wealthy outsiders.

The coastal port in North Cornwall already has more second homes than anywhere else in the county.

In 2017 Padstow was rated by the Halifax Building Society as the fifth least affordable seaside venue for properties in England with an average house price of £423,000 – more than double what local people can afford.

Padstow Town Council is looking to limit the number of second home owners in the area as a way to stop local residents being priced out of the market by wealthy outsiders (pictured: a file photo of the sunrise across Padstow harbour in North Cornwall)

A town council spokesman said: ‘Our own residents have told us that they feel it is very depressing to have so many houses in the town empty for most of the year and have highlighted the very negative effect it has on the community, especially in the winter months.

‘There must be little doubt that Padstow has been one of the primary areas for second home seekers for many years.

‘When we started our neighbourhood plan three years ago more than two thirds of all houses purchased in the PL28 postcode area were for second homes.’

Under the plans, homebuyers will have to prove the new-build home they are attempting to purchase is their main address, such as putting children in local schools or registering to vote in the area, reports Cornwall Live.

A sign strung across a main broad bridge telling holidaymakers heading to Cornwall to ‘f*** off’. Cornwall’s tourism chief slammed the ‘offensive and unforgivable’ sign

Escape to the country: House prices of £2million properties in rural areas rise by the fastest rate in a decade

House prices of £2million properties in rural areas have risen by the fastest rate in a decade as wealthy people in cities hunt for countryside retreats across the UK.

Homes in the southwest, the Cotswolds and Scotland were the most popular as well as luxury properties in Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Norfolk.

While countryside homes like these have increased in value by an average of £111,000 (5.5 per cent), a similarly priced flat or house in central London went down in value by an average of £8,000 (0.4 per cent) last year.

Savills researchers believe the change in house prices came as the coronavirus lockdown meant people ‘sought a lifestyle shift and recognised the relative value on offer’.

The price shifts were recorded in the Savills prime house price index, which noted last year saw the biggest growth since 2010.

In the rest of the prime London market (defined as the top five per cent of the market), where £2million would typically secure an additional 1,000 square feet of accommodation and more garden space, gains averaged £36,000.

Lucian Cook, Savills head of residential research, said at the time: ‘The unique circumstances of 2020, have led to a surge in market activity at the top end of the housing market.

‘This has supported prices and delivered some unexpected gains, but it hasn’t resulted in runaway price growth.’

Padstow will submit its Parish Neighbourhood Plan to Cornwall Council’s planning authority.

St Ives in West Cornwall pioneered a similar move in 2016, but a study conducted in 2019 said the ban may have backfired.

The research, which was carried out by the London School of Economics, found banning second homes in tourist hotspots could have a detrimental effect on local economies, and potentially increase the ‘ghost town effect’.

Professor Christian Hilber, who led the study, said at the time: ‘Tourist towns face a fundamental trade-off. They can restrict second home investors, with possibly positive effects on amenities and affordability.

‘But this always comes at the cost of a significant adverse effect on the local economy.

‘Any policy that succeeds in keeping second home investors away will hurt the local economy, mainly the tourism and construction sectors.’

Meanwhile, research has shown that house prices of £2million properties in rural areas have risen by the fastest rate in a decade as wealthy people in cities hunt for countryside retreats across the UK.

Homes in the southwest, the Cotswolds and Scotland proved the most popular as well as luxury properties in Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Norfolk.

While countryside homes like these have increased in value by an average of £111,000 (5.5 per cent), a similarly priced flat or house in central London has gone down in value by an average of £8,000 (0.4 per cent) last year.

Savills researchers believe the change in house prices came as the Covid lockdown meant people ‘sought a lifestyle shift and recognised the relative value on offer’.

The price shifts were recorded in the Savills prime house price index, which noted that last year saw the biggest growth since 2010.

Data from TwentyCI also showed that the number of sales of properties costing more than £1million that were agreed in the 11 months to the end of November last year was 29 per cent higher than in the same period last year, despite a significant fall in activity during the first national lockdown.

Beyond London they have risen by 43 per cent.

Overall, prime regional house prices rose by 3.6 per cent in the year, while prime London values rose by an average of just 1.1 per cent.

Savills believed the country home price increase was influenced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s stamp duty holiday, for which he increased the threshold from £125,000 to £500,000 from July 8 2020 until the end of March this year.