Holiday homes are ‘hollowing out’ coastal areas, says MP

The Guardian reports Labour MP Luke Pollard says Covid-19 has ‘turbo-charged’ housing crisis in rural and coastal towns

Coastal communities are being “hollowed out irretrievably” by a surge in holiday homes, an MP has warned, as new figures showed more than 17,000 properties in England have been “flipped” into short-term lets since Covid-19.

The poll came as MPs and campaign groups warned that vital public services – including schools, trains and buses – were in danger of vanishing from tourist hotspots due to a shortage of affordable homes.

“We’re sleepwalking into a new chapter of the housing crisis where communities are being hollowed out in a way that is irretrievable,” said the Labour MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, Luke Pollard. “We’re beyond the tipping point in some places.”

The Covid pandemic has “turbo-charged” the housing crisis in many rural and coastal communities, Pollard said, as wealthy outsiders snap up holiday retreats – taking properties off the market and pushing prices beyond the reach of local residents.

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The Guardian - Holiday homes are ‘hollowing out’ coastal areas, says MP