By Debenie Morse of South East Cornwall Labour Party

In Cornwall, tourism is a fact of life – of course our beautiful coast and countryside will always attract visitors – but has something changed? Recently, things seem to have shifted out of balance. With restrictions on overseas travel, and relentless overselling of Cornwall as a “dream” destination, we are seeing more holidaymakers than ever before. Holiday accommodation is fully booked, despite inflated prices; even inland, mass tourism has arrived on a scale Cornwall has never seen.
In my small inland town (population 3,000) there are now 70 AirBnB lets; that doesn’t include the increasing number of second homes in our historic centre, or holiday cottages let through other agencies. Walking through town the other morning, it was striking how many holidaying families with luggage were letting themselves in and out of houses I knew previously as homes. Flats, annexes, even spruced-up sheds are now holiday lets, at huge profit. It’s hard to blame anyone for seizing this opportunity, but what are the consequences for our communities?
It’s becoming near impossible for Cornwall’s working people, who “enjoy” some of the lowest wages in the UK, to find anywhere affordable and secure to live. This is particularly hard for the young, in low-wage seasonal jobs, but increasingly affects working families and even older people unable to meet soaring property prices. A neighbour, renting to a working couple rather than cashing in on AirBnB, received 22 applications within hours. Imagine the stress for those people.
Yes, tourism is important to Cornwall, but its financial contribution is often wildly overestimated, while costs imposed on local services are discounted. Tourism contributes only 12% to Cornwall’s economy: increasingly, tourist assets are owned by companies and individuals based outside Cornwall. Our landscape, history and distinctiveness are simply an opportunity to extract profit.
Since Mrs Thatcher’s government subsidised the sell-off of council houses, and prevented local councils building replacements, rents have risen steeply, good council properties are long since privatised, and the price of even modest houses and flats has soared out of all proportion to local wages. Landlords’ profits have been massively subsidised via Housing Benefit, needed as private rents became unaffordable for those on average local pay or below.
Cornwall needs community-owned housing at genuinely affordable rents; there is no substitute. We need effective change-of-use regulation to prevent towns and villages becoming a desert of empty second homes and shuttered seasonal businesses in winter, and unbearably congested with holidaymakers and cars in summer. Specific taxes are needed to ensure holiday rentals and second homes help pay for the increased costs and stresses they impose on Cornwall’s essential public services.
We need to restore the balance. Second homes are a luxury, and holidays a pleasure, but a secure home is our most basic human need.