Second homers rewarded while locals in need suffer

 

So, the Conservative handed £104 million of Cornwall’s Covid aid to second home owners who don’t live in Cornwall. They admitted this at County Hall last week. And this at a time when our housing emergency got much worse – new rentals shrank by 45% and rents up by 15% in the last year.

This is no surprise to me. I’d blown the whistle last March. I’d campaigned against the introduction of the tax-loophole which underlies it since 2012. Tens of millions of public monies have been quietly handed to second homers each year since then! I’d already called on Ministers to claw the money back and to instead support struggling local families.

 

In my (part-time) day job, I’m privileged to have been a small part of a partnership to deliver another 6 secure, genuinely affordable, energy-efficient homes for local families on the Lizard last week. Our charitable trust has plans to deliver many more. This is where we should concentrate our time and money. Not propping up second home owners.