‘My daughter is 45 but second homes in Cornwall have forced her to live with me’

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1. “If you go to places like Port Isaac, Mousehole, St Mawes, you could fire a gun there in winter and not hit anybody, they’re so full of second homes.”

   Dave Hunter, 70, says spiralling second home ownership in Cornwall has caused significant problems for locals. In his family’s case, it has meant his 45-year-old moving back home with her husband and child.

   “My daughter was paying £800 a month rent and earning £30-35k a year so couldn’t possibly afford to save for a mortgage,” Mr Hunter told *The i Paper*. “We’ve now extended our house and she’s moved in with her daughter and husband. It’s the only solution.”

   To accommodate the family, the garage was knocked down and extended, with another floor built on top, which he and his wife moved into.

   The extension cost £120,000 which his daughter paid for with a mortgage. Mortgages in Newquay, where their village St Columb Minor is situated, are upwards of £250,000, Mr Hunt said, which his daughter and her partner – who run an arts agency – simply couldn’t afford.

   He said the situation was the same for many young people in the county. “I know lots of 30-year-olds who are still living with their parents,” he told *The i Paper*.

   Second home ownership in Cornwall has been a growing issue for the past few decades. Cornwall is the second home capital of England. By some counts, one in 20 homes are second residences.

   Many attribute Cornwall’s housing crisis to second home ownership and holiday lets, with rocketing demand, soaring prices, and local residents unable to buy homes. In September 2021, there were reportedly 10,000 Airbnbs and fewer than 50 homes available to rent.

   “Too many families are being driven out of their communities by the conversion of rented homes into second homes and holiday lets,” said Ben Twomey, chief executive of Generation Rent, which supports renters. “In Cornwall, since 2019, the number of holiday homes has increased by around 10 per cent.

   “The cost of average private rents in Cornwall rose by nearly nine per cent between 2024 and 2025, twice as fast as our wages grew.”

   Mr Hunter said there is strong feeling among Cornish residents about second homers, “particularly among young people under 35 who are trying to get on the property ladder”.

   “There’s anger. I mean it’s not like the 70s, no one’s going to set fire to them or anything like they did in Wales. But you see lots of stickers around the place. There’s a famous sticker which is a Cornish flag and in each corner it says ‘f**k your second home’,” he said.

   A resident since 1978, Mr Hunter said the number of second homes had risen exponentially over the years. Mawgan Porth, on the Cornish coast, is just one area that has become popular – Cate Blanchett is building a house there, as is the CEO of Innocent Smoothies. “I’m sure both properties will sit empty for most of the year,” Mr Hunter said.

2. Have they considered building a bunch of new housing? The old increasing Supply to meet Demand type thing?

3. Get rid of the tourists and your local economy collapses. I’m sorry, but that’s what you get when you live in Cornwall – like living in London. Solution is always: build more housing.

4. This is happening where I live as it’s a beachy town commutable to London. Loads of my friends who grew up here can barely get anything to rent let alone buy. The place is full up with second homeowners who either barely visit or air bnb the properties. It’s really frustrating to live somewhere that this happens in. Lucky that we just about manage to hold onto a small community of locals but it’s hard not to get resentful when the horrible city attitude and litter ruins your little surf town.

5. A lot of the small villages around us are empty due all the properties being snapped up and made into holiday homes. It’s quite sad as they are homes traditionally lived in by fishermen and other local working class trades. It is a bit of a myth that Cornwall only exists off the back of tourism. It obviously helps our economy but we survived before tourism was common.

   It’s difficult, a lot of our “affordable” homes are snapped up by people wanting to move to the area. You do feel like you are being pushed out. I don’t blame anybody but our local councils that sell us out at any opportunity. Anybody moving down to Cornwall are just wanting a better life.

6. Around [5% of homes in Cornwall](https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/cornwall-second-homes-still-rising-9724262.amp) are second homes, while around [10% of homes in all of France](https://www.connexionfrance.com/practical/map-which-areas-in-france-are-most-popular-with-second-home-owners/676661#:~:text=Some%209.8%25%20of%20homes%20in,from%20state%20statistics%20agency%20Insee) are second homes.

   “Interlopers” aren’t the problem- a lack of supply is the problem.

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