A Liberal Democrat MP has dropped his bid to cap the number of second homes in key holiday areas of the UK because his proposals haven't attracted the support of enough Conservative or Labour members of parliament.
Andrew George, Liberal Democrat MP for St Ives, wants new laws to make housing more affordable and was this week going to use his position as the first MP to be allowed to take forward a Private Members' Bill in this parliamentary session.
The original draft of his Affordable Homes Bill included proposals to limit the so-called bedroom tax housing benefit crackdown and new planning restrictions on the number of holiday homes.
But ahead of the Bill being debated on Friday, George says he has scrapped the idea.
In Cornwall, where the MP has his constituency, the average house price is more than 12 times the average income. Some 14,000 of Cornwall's 260,000 homes are designated as second properties and in one area - St Minver Lowlands, close to Rock and Padstow - 42.9 per cent of properties are holiday homes.
His Private Members' Bill also includes the creation of an Affordable Homes Investment Bank to fund shared equity or shared ownership housing and a limit on the application of the so-called bedroom tax to exclude those who have been living at an address for over three years and where disabled adaptations have been fitted - these elements of his Bill are believed to have been retained.
George came top of the Private Members' Bill ballot - a lifetime opportunity to create new legislation he says - but historically PMBs rarely prove successful.
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Comments
If the problem is empty second homes that need to be filled, that should be addressed through the tax system. Ramping up taxes on homes left empty would encourage owners at least to become landlords or use agents to enable this.
Why did he scrap the idea A Lib Dem MP not seeing something through to the bitter end - never! His intentions are honourable, so why has he given up so quickly Not enough support from Labour and the Tories is the excuse given - seems a bit of a cop-out to me.