Padstow could ban second home owners from buying new-build houses
Report by Grace Pascoe
Padstow could become the latest Cornish seaside town to ban second home owners from buying new-build houses.
The proposals have been put forward to try to make properties in the area more affordable for locals - and to stop Padstow becoming a "ghost town" in the winter.
People living in Padstow will have 10 weeks from Monday 8 February to vote on Padstow Town Council's Parish Neighbourhood Plan.
The proposals state "each new dwelling is occupied only as a principle residence" - meaning newcomers to the parish would have to prove the new-build property they are trying to purchase would be their main residence.
The proof needed would include registering to vote in the area or putting children in local schools.
It would also includes the resale of new-build properties, meaning from the time the neighbourhood plan is implemented any newly-built home which is resold must only be bought by someone who can prove it will be their primary residence.
The town also wants affordable homes to blend in with market value homes on new developments.
In 2017, Padstow was rated by the Halifax Building Society as the fifth least affordable seaside place for properties in England, with an average house price of £423,000.
A recent survey of residents revealed few local people can afford a home that is more than £200,000.
According the the ONS and Zoopla, the average house price in Padstow is £240,538 more than the UK average.
It has also increased by more than £50,000 in the past year.
The Neighbourhood Plan is not unique, in 2016, St Ives implemented a similar ban on second-home owners.
Around 80% of locals voted in favour of bringing in the proposals in St Ives.
Like there, the future of Padstow is in the hands of those residing in the fishing town.
However, Padstow is reliant on tourists and second-home owners to keep local businesses afloat.
Many locals who spoke to ITV News said they were in favour of the plans, others said there is "a compromised to be reached".
Currently 2,500 people live in Padstow all year round, that figure more than doubles during the tourist season.
Padstow also receives more than 500,000 day-visitors every year.
A spokesman for the town council said: “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.
“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.
“St Ives Neighbourhood Plan pioneered the way in which the coastal communities of Cornwall can place a legally enforceable restriction on the sale of new open market dwellings in the interests of sustainability.
The NP adds: “While we have no statutory obligation to meet all the local housing needs within the neighbourhood area, we have concluded that it would be wrong not to ensure that all larger housing developments provide as high a proportion of affordable homes as is achievable.
“We continue to favour developments that provide a mix of market housing and housing that is affordable and accessible to local people. Different housing tenures on the same development should be integrated and relatively indistinguishable from each other. In this way we will achieve more balanced communities.”
As Padstow also attracts its fair share of retirees, the town council is asking that new developments must include homes designed to accommodate older households.
The town council spokesman added: “Due to the impact upon the local housing market of the continued uncontrolled growth of dwellings used for holiday accommodation (as second or holiday homes), our plan will support the provision of a principal residence condition to be applied on all new build housing, other than one-for-one replacement.
"It will bring greater balance and mixture to the local housing market and create new opportunities for people to live and work here, thereby strengthening the community and local economy.”
Read more: