An idyllic town, famed for its surfing beaches and vibrant art scene, is being overshadowed by a growing number of second homes. The picturesque town of St Ives, in Cornwall, attracts approximately 540,000 day visitors and 220,000 overnight guests annually . However, it's also home to a significant number of second homes , purchased by the rich, looking for their own slice of paradise.
This trend has led to local residents feeling displaced as these wealthy part-time inhabitants take over parking spaces with their luxury cars, disregarding the needs of the locals. One resident was forced into living in a van after her flat became an Airbnb rental, reports Cornwall Live . Upon seeking help from the council, she was advised to go to a homeless shelter.
Read more: Lizzy, a St Ives local, expressed her frustration, saying: "Why would you buy a house just to come and use it for a short amount of time? Why wouldn't you just come down and, you know, stay in a hotel?" Lizzy's concerns are shared across much of the community, with many people disheartened by the transformation of their town. Another resident said: "It's just a rich man's playground down here now." Although it is jam-packed during summer, St Ives turns into a desolate place during winter.
Phyllis Rashleigh, a long-time resident said: "Local people don't own St Ives any more. It's all speculative. No lights on anywhere, nothing.
All shut up this time of year, it's just dead, for sale." Zoopla's recent figures indicate that the average house price in St Ives stands at £507,396, which is a staggering 78 per cent higher than the UK's current average of £285,201. Cornwall has seen a significant number of properties, totalling 13,140, being used as second homes.
Stefan Harkon, an RNLI lifeguard from St Ives, shared with CornwallLive: "At times, people in the town feel that they are just operatives in a theme park. We work in an area but we can't live in it." Camilla Dixon, who co-founded the First Not Second Homes campaign, expressed her concerns by saying: "We have a town where the rich people come to on holiday when in some parts of St Ives more than a third of children live below the breadline.
" She further highlighted the impact of past policies and current market trends, stating: "It is having a detrimental effect. We depleted our social housing stock when they were sold in the 80s. Because the value of land has gone up, developers have been land-grabbing and land-banking to make more money.
It means genuine social housing developments are being priced out.".
