Residents who live in towns popular with holiday homes have laid into property owners, saying they’re turning them into ‘ghost towns.’
It comes as holiday homes in Wales will have to be registered and licensed, with the Welsh government said it wanted the new rules to improve visitors’ experiences and improve safety.
However, holiday homes split opinions for the residents who permanently live there.
Some appreciated the business that they bring to the towns, while others are concerned about young people being priced out of joining the property ladder.
Wells-next-the-Sea in Norfolk
PA
One of those places is Wells-next-the-Sea in Norfolk, where around 35 per cent of properties are second homes or holiday lets, despite just over 2,000 people living there locally.
Maintenance worker Ricky Jordan, 40 said: “It’s a ghost town now. If you get a gimmicky weekend like Christmas Tide it’s mental but at this time of year there’s probably only two people on the street. Businesses struggle to maintain things during the winter.
“We really need houses built to sustain a community here because it feels like the community is dying.”
Former police sergeant Terry Hiddett, 80, said: “I’ve got mixed feelings because I understand it’s difficult for young people and people on low incomes to get accommodation.
“But if you see all the white vans in this part of Norfolk they’re all making their money from tiling and plumbing and so on [at second homes].”
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St Ives sees its 11,500 permanent residence swelled with 540,000 day trippers and 220,000 people staying
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Meanwhile, seaside town of St Ives in Cornwall sees its 11,500 permanent residence swelled with 540,000 day trippers and 220,000 people staying.
Resident Trish Christophers, 75, said winter in St Ives is ‘bliss’ saying: “We don’t have cars knocking us over every time we walk down the street.
“This time of year it’s mainly people who want to be here, not people who want to find fault and complain.
“I enjoy it all year round but it’s lovely to feel like it’s ours again. There is more community spirit in winter and it’s more relaxed but financially it’s harder.”
Ann Porter, 75, who has lived in the town since 1962, said: “I love everything about it here and I never want to go anywhere else.
“But this week I’ve had to complain to the council about the amount of visitors dumping rubbish after staying down for Christmas and New Year.
“People buy a house and let it out and an agency is supposed to arrange private rubbish collection but instead they dump bin bags next to litter bins and expect the council to take them away.
“Yesterday, I was out there twice to clear up this heap including dirty nappies and female hygiene products.”
In Tenby, Pembrokeshire, one in every four properties in the town centre are holiday homes
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In Tenby, Pembrokeshire, one in every four properties in the town centre are holiday homes.
Gardener and local artist Simon Rowlands, said: “I’ve lived here all my life and I think it’s always been that way. The town is buzzing in the summer and it was busy over Christmas and New Year.
“But now the children have gone back to school, the town is dead. It doesn’t bother me, I like it all year round.”
Retired printer Denis Powling, 70, who has lived in the West Wales resort all his life, said: “It’s the young people I feel sorry for, unless they’ve got parents with money it’s a struggle for them to get a deposit on a house in Tenby.
“No affordable housing is being built, a two bedroomed cottage went on the market a few weeks ago for £350,000. Ordinary working people can’t afford that.”
