Torbay's MP Kevin Foster led a debate earlier today on Short-Term Holiday Lets and the Planning System.
An appropriate level of short-term holiday lets creates choice and attracts visitors, by providing different options for accommodation. Yet seeing families evicted from their homes to create holiday accommodation is unacceptable.
Requiring planning permission for conversion of homes into holiday lets would give local communities an opportunity to decide what is the right balance in their area. This would still allow new short-term lets where appropriate, but avoid over concentration in some areas and protect the availability of new family homes, including for those who work within the tourism sector itself.
Making this change will not, on its own, resolve the pressures on housing in coastal areas like Torbay. Yet changes in this area could make a real difference and it is an issue which needs to be addressed, not least to give confidence to local authorities when granting planning permission for new housing in popular areas for tourism, such as Devon and Cornwall, it will mean new homes becoming available, rather than them becoming new holiday accommodation.
To watch the full debate, and the Minister's response, click here: https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/d52036f3-4a9f-468d-bffa-935966a1dd09
