Second Homes
Earlier this year, the ex-Poet Laureate Sir Andrew Motion, now chairman of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, stepped away from his stanzas and on to the soapbox when he made a very public cry for an end to second home ownership. For him, it was not so much a question of where, but who should own a bolt-hole. It was, he suggested, a duty for the government to raise taxes to make it harder for anyone, except the superwealthy, to be able to load the children, the dog and granny into the back of the car and drive them to a weekend retreat.
As ideological positions go, it is an interesting one: the idea that the countryside (owned by all) is the preserve of those born there. As is clearly obvious from this column, I too have a second home: in my case at the seaside, in an area that has some of the highest rates of unemployment (and alcohol abuse) in Britain.
Around 165,000 people have second homes in the UK, and in some parts of Devon and Cornwall they account for almost half of all properties. In an ideal world, no one would feel the need to leave their villages, although Andrew Motion did leave Braintree to go to Oxford University from where, one presumes, he has little reason to look back: he now lives in a chic north London neighbourhood.
However, he has a point. Rural communities, and seaside towns in the Southeast in particular, are under the cosh. There is no work. No social housing. And little chance of advancement for those with limited choices – although I am sure it lifts the hearts of most villagers to discover that they are playing host to a literary festival.
‘They’re townies in the countryside’, he explained. ‘They make sure they’re back in London to catch the 10 o’clock news on Sunday night. That means rural communities are gutted.’
Clichés, as I am sure the writer in him would agree, are best avoided. Yes, I suspect there are those who whiz down to the Cotswolds in a smart four-wheel drive for cocktails at Kate Moss’s. But the rest of us have other reasons for giving in to the lure of the holiday home. Pets (they tend to loathe boats and planes); isolated relatives (a prime motivator for signing the mortgage); and children.
I decided some time ago to stop subjecting my disabled 11-year-old to the dictates of Ryanair. Hastings has a small fun fair. It has great shops (funded by weekenders) and it is peopled by a friendly bunch who don’t seem to mind us too much. But we could always abandon Blighty for Blighted Brittany…
{acepolls 66}
Next week: Dodgem parking.
As ideological positions go, it is an interesting one: the idea that the countryside (owned by all) is the preserve of those born there. As is clearly obvious from this column, I too have a second home: in my case at the seaside, in an area that has some of the highest rates of unemployment (and alcohol abuse) in Britain.
Around 165,000 people have second homes in the UK, and in some parts of Devon and Cornwall they account for almost half of all properties. In an ideal world, no one would feel the need to leave their villages, although Andrew Motion did leave Braintree to go to Oxford University from where, one presumes, he has little reason to look back: he now lives in a chic north London neighbourhood.
However, he has a point. Rural communities, and seaside towns in the Southeast in particular, are under the cosh. There is no work. No social housing. And little chance of advancement for those with limited choices – although I am sure it lifts the hearts of most villagers to discover that they are playing host to a literary festival.
‘They’re townies in the countryside’, he explained. ‘They make sure they’re back in London to catch the 10 o’clock news on Sunday night. That means rural communities are gutted.’
Clichés, as I am sure the writer in him would agree, are best avoided. Yes, I suspect there are those who whiz down to the Cotswolds in a smart four-wheel drive for cocktails at Kate Moss’s. But the rest of us have other reasons for giving in to the lure of the holiday home. Pets (they tend to loathe boats and planes); isolated relatives (a prime motivator for signing the mortgage); and children.
I decided some time ago to stop subjecting my disabled 11-year-old to the dictates of Ryanair. Hastings has a small fun fair. It has great shops (funded by weekenders) and it is peopled by a friendly bunch who don’t seem to mind us too much. But we could always abandon Blighty for Blighted Brittany…
{acepolls 66}
Next week: Dodgem parking.