An MP says he wants to use a once in a lifetime opportunity to give councils the power to limit the number of second homes in their area.
Andrew George, Liberal Democrat MP for West Cornwall, wants the introduction of a new category in the planning Use Classes Order for non-permanent residential use' which would empower planning authorities to control the number of second homes in their area.
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 will also include the creation of an Affordable Homes Investment Bank to fund shared equity or shared ownership housing, 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, and finally new compulsory purchase powers for councils where developers have been hoarding land.
George came top of the Private Members' Bill ballot - a lifetime opportunity to create new legislation he says - but historically PMBs rarely prove successful.
How this will square with the MPs' colleagues is difficult to judge. A local newspaper recently revealed that one Labour MP owns two holiday homes in Cornwall; two Conservative MPs own homes there, too, one of which has in the past been rented by David Cameron for holidays.
The paper says this total is likely to be an under-estimate as parliamentary rules require MPs to make public only details of properties from which they derive an income.
%20-%20IMAGE%20Client%20Accounting%20%E2%80%93%20what%20are%20your%20options.jpg)
.png)
Comments
@ Sophie Allen & Rob Davies.
This is just a vote catching ploy. Many so called holiday homes are rented out for just that - holidays!
If someone can afford and want two properties, for whatever reason and in whatever area, that is their right in a free country. 'Communistic' IS a fair description. This country is over legislated and over populated , those who cannot see that should open their eyes to what is happening around them.
Well said, Rob. These homes are empty and wasted for most of the year when there is a housing shortage. It's not on.
Do you really need two homes though, Ray Especially if one of them is only used sparingly or left completely empty for much of the year. With so many people struggling to get on the property ladder, limiting the number of second homes would free up property for would-be buyers. Its not communistic at all, just a sensible, rational measure. Especially if, like weve seen in the past, MPs are fiddling their expenses to fund their second homes.
No vested interest here then! It is also very 'communistic' and again impinges upon the individuals freedoms.