Claims holiday lets are forcing Northumberland people out of their home towns

Although the issue is a UK-wide one, it is particularly acute in rural Northumberland.

A recent report by The Countryside Charity revealed thousands of people are on waiting lists for social housing, while second homes and holidays lets are being bought for astronomical sums, pricing local people out of the market.

Scott Dickinson, leader of Northumberland Labour, said: “We're an area which thrives and, in many areas, depends on tourism but the pendulum has swung too far.

“To have tourism you need local people who provide the services tourists are looking for, and they need to be able to afford to live locally.

“Now we're seeing second homes and holiday lets rise as the number of available domestic homes fall. It's a race to the top for investors and a race to the bottom for local people.

“Places like Amble, Bamburgh and Seahouses have rows of terraced houses where only two or three have full-time occupants, while locals are struggling and having to move away.

He also criticised the current county council for not building any affordable housing developments, a claim dismissed by the local authority.

It pointed to the £48.2 million allocated in its Housing Investment Programme, which will be used to build affordable housing over the next five years.

A spokesperson added: “Across the county over the last five years, around 1,300 affordable homes have been secured in the county through the planning process. Of these, around 800 were affordable homes for rent, delivered by the council and partner housing association.

"Around 180 were for shared ownership, and around 320 were available for purchase at a discount.

“In addition, there are about 120 affordable homes planned that the council would manage including sites in rural locations. We are also working on a number of schemes with housing associations which will deliver around 530 affordable homes for rent, shared ownership and rent to buy.”

Long standing national legislation means planning permission is not required to change an existing house into a holiday let or a second home. However, the council has powers in relation to newly built houses, and can restrict the occupation of them, so they are only used as permanent homes.

The spokesperson continued: “We are doing rolling research on the issue of holiday and second homes and the new Local Plan proposes to require all new dwellings to be occupied only as a 'principal residence' in any parish where, according to the latest Census, at least 20% of the housing stock is not being used as someone's main home. The results of the 2021 Census are expected shortly and we will be making a policy statement as soon as we have been able to analyse the new data."