Rural areas suffer from an undersupply of affordable housing. Cracking down on second homes is one part of the solution
Devon, where I grew up and have lived on and off my whole life, always had a surplus of affordable places to live. Even a couple of years ago many private rentals stood empty for months. This year, when my husband and I needed to move back from Lundy, an island off the north Devon coast, things were very different.
There was such a dearth of long-term rentals that I found myself jumping on anything listed. We competed with 50 others for an overpriced place that had flooded the previous winter, and had our application rejected for a bungalow with a scoreboard above the bed. For most properties, we didn’t even get to the application process. Many listed in the morning would be fully booked for viewings by lunchtime. Soon, we expanded our search from north Devon to the entire county, and then to Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset. Wherever we looked, I heard the same story: “Fully booked for viewings.”