Due to an invasion of second houses, parts of the UK are at risk of becoming “ghost towns.”
A new map shows which parts of the country are regularly targeted by city slickers looking for a rural home.
The most desirable location is Salcombe in Devon, followed by Falmouth in Cornwall, and North Berwick in Scotland.
The list was topped by Cornwall, where disgruntled homeowners have taken to graffitiing walls in protest of second houses.
Rightmove compiled a list that includes St Ives, Newquay, Padstow, and Bude.
Locals in Cornwall are protesting the growing number of second homes by spray painting enormous graffiti on them.
‘Second home owners give something back: Rent or sell your vacant houses to local residents at a fair price,’ was scribbled on a wall in the village of St Agnes.
House prices in Cornwall have been steadily rising year after year, angering locals looking to enter the market.
Meanwhile, in Devon, a couple with £500,000 in the bank recently expressed concern that they may be forced to leave because out-of-towners have pushed up house prices.
During their search for a cheap home, they stated they “may wind up in a tent in a field.”
In Whitby, an overwhelming vote was held last night to restrict new residences from becoming holiday rents or second homes.
Frustrated homeowners claim that ‘crazy’ house prices are driving natives out and turning the town into a ‘theme park.’
In a rare parish poll held on Monday in the North Yorkshire tourist destination, 93 percent of those polled agreed to limit future construction to ‘full time local occupation,’ a display of unity that has little ability to compel policymakers.
On Thursday, campaigners urged something must be done to keep young people from leaving the old fishing port and to make it easier to attract teachers, physicians, and other critical employees who have been priced out of the town.
A three-bedroom house on Church Street, in the heart of the tourist district, would have cost £25,000 to £30,000 in the early 1990s, but today sells for more than £500,000, according to borough councillor Phil Trumper.
‘I lived in that section of town all my life, and we had a true community down there in the 1980s,’ Mr Trumper recalled.
‘But no-one lives down there now. It’s becoming a theme park, basically. And that’s something that we don’t want to happen.”
He said: ‘I think we’re at a tipping point.
‘We’re losing a lot of the housing stock to holiday lets, which is driving up the prices of the properties, so its becoming unaffordable for young people who were born here and live here and want to work here.
‘They’re having to move out of the town.
‘So we’re kind-of losing all those young people that we need to keep the town viable.”
Mr Trumper said: ‘It’s difficult at the moment. Restaurants can’t find chefs, there’s difficulty finding doctors for the hospital, teachers don’t want to move here because it’s too expensive to find a house.’
The councillor said he hoped a decision by Scarborough Borough Council earlier this year to include a primary ownership scheme into the local plan would help with new developments but he saw no immediate solution to existing properties.
He said the problem needed addressing at a national level, with the planning system changed so change-of-use to holiday accommodation could be restricted in certain circumstances.
‘I think the government really needs to take a serious look at these issues, because it’s not just Whitby,’ he said.
‘It’s communities all around the country that have been affected by it.’
Scarborough Council announced that 2,111 voters agreed that ‘all new-build and additional homes in Whitby parish be restricted to full-time local occupation as a primary residence exclusively and forever (in perpetuity)’ in Monday night’s referendum, with only 157 voting against.
The referendum, which was called at a town meeting last month, cannot impose any policy, according to the council, and is “no more and no less than an expression of the views of the parish electorate who have voted in the poll, and is not binding on any organization.”
The turnout for the poll was around 23% of the 10,000 electorate.
In 2021, a review of council tax records revealed that just under 20% of all residences in Whitby were used as holiday rents or second homes.
According to census data from 2001, the figure was around 8% at the time.
When Scarborough Borough Council becomes part of the new North Yorkshire unitary authority, a second question on the poll asked whether Whitby should continue within the Scarborough area committee.
Only 253 people voted yes, while 1,982 voted no.
‘The survey results clearly indicate the strength of feeling in the local community on these two concerns,’ Whitby Community Network said in a statement on Tuesday.
‘We trust that our elected councillors will take note and take action.
‘Thanks to all the people who helped to make the poll happen – to all the voters who turned out in person – and to all the staff who took part in the late-night count.’
On Tuesday, online estate agents were advertising a three bedroom town house about a half-a-mile from the town centre for £385,000.
A three-bedroom detached a little further from the centre was on the market for £350,000.
A two-bedroom apartment close to the main beach, on the West Cliff, was advertised at £275,000.
The average house price in the Yorkshire and Humber Region in February 2022 was £199,939, according to the Land Registry.