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| Can you Afford to Live in Cornwall? |
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Page 5 of 6 Of course much more action needs to be taken to house the Cornish. Current figures for the west of Cornwall show that out of 32,000 homes in the area, just 4,150 are deemed affordable and 3,000 are second homes. Planning seems to be a huge issue too. The district councils are urging the government to allow local planning authorities to seek ‘change of use’ planning permission, if it is proposed that a home might be turned into a holiday home, and to ‘cap’ or restrict the numbers of second homes in Cornish towns and villages. There are the major factors that contribute to this overall crisis in Cornwall namely: low incomes, limited employment and mounting debt among many of the Cornwall’s population. Cornwall is now undeniably a fashionable place to live. Those of us who grew up here wished we had bought property in the 1990s, and many people I know in the 30-40 age bracket can’t afford to buy a property in their home region at current prices. As for the younger population? Well that’s another story. It’s marketed as a cool place to live to and understandably so. Towns such as Newquay and Falmouth sell many of their houses and apartments to affluent people from the South East, who use their places as boltholes to escape the city and spend their weekends in Cornwall, or those who wish to retire here. You can argue that there’s nothing wrong with this, and there isn’t. Yet it’s another contributing factor to the crisis. With the average age of the population of Cornwall getting older, and with more young people moving away and a large proportion on low incomes, it’s not going to get better overnight. The steps taken already, and the many proposals in place, hold a brighter future for those wishing to get their own house. Yet it’s a problem that is in danger of escalating out of control, unless much more is done, and now. We’d like to hear your thoughts on the housing crisis in Cornwall, so hop on to www.cornwall24.co.uk to register your views. |
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