Sunday, Mar 15, 2009
I'm amazed this doesn't happen more often.
Telegraph: Rural revolt gathers pace as upmarket new homes vandalised
Protesters daubed "No More 2nd Homes", "Greed" and "Go Away" on buildings in a picturesque village where many of the properties are empty for large parts of the year.
It comes amid growing concern in some parts of the countryside that wealthy city workers are pricing locals out of the housing market and turning communities into "ghost villages" by buying up homes that they visit rarely.
Posted by tyrellcorporation @ 09:47 PM (1137 views) Add Comment
17 Comments
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1. crunchy said...
Totally agree. These are not real full time communities and therefore cannot function properly.
Not only are communities being priced out they are being shut down. Another reason why property should not be encouraged as investment vehicles.
No wonder there is a growing resentment to part time dwellers and also towards the spin offs from misplaced investments.
Much more to come. Not a moment too soon.
De-industrialisation, don't you just love it?
2. tyrellcorporation said...
Another irony is that local police stations invariably shut at 6.00pm (like a corner shop) or any law enforcement might be at least 1/2 an hour away. They simply don't have the man-power to follow up small cases of vandalism like this. These lock-up-and-leave second home owners might start to regret sinking £500k into a small cottage if they think it might be wrecked while they are away. Welsh Cottages all over again but this time on a massive scale!
3. crunchy said...
Thatcher's children doomed to be ruthless!
4. braindeed said...
Looks like someone made a classic mistake, an avoidable mention of wealth in these challenging times. Period!
5. inflation is eating my savings said...
seems like the right wing press suddenly have it in for house prices.
Perhaps they hope for a steep crash then davey boy gets the bounce.
Folks I know from devon have an expression to refer to the 2nd homers.
DFL- down from london. And yes, pubs, shops and random small businesses can function in villages when people are there all the time. When people are there 1 weekend in 4, these places cannot function. Then locals and DFLs alike have to survive on Tescos and Wetherspoons. Not so rustic anymore is it.
6. inflation is eating my savings said...
The conspiracy theory would be that Labour have inflated the money supply and ramped property specifically to target all these nice small rural villages. Therefore not killing, but generally annoying "the forces of conservatism" or whatever our Tone used to say. Who cares about side effects elsewhere.
But I am not conspiracy minded, just have a friend or two in Devon.
7. drewster said...
When the economy was in full swing the locals were too busy working to bother with vandalism; and if they had jobs then they had something to lose by being caught. However now that unemployment is rising, these people feel they have nothing to lose so they lash out at the nearest and most visible sign of inequality.
Bear in mind with unemployment that the worst employees get the sack first: the moody irrational troublemakers. Crime and disorder will rise fast - just look at Northern Ireland.
8. Inflation Is Eating My Savings said...
"moody irrational troublemakers"
"Steve Rider"
9. Lord D'arcy Pew said...
Second homes have played a large part in the destruction of rural communities. Small shops have suffered greatly as the new arrivals shop away from the villages. This has been most noticeable with Post Offices shutting due to very low use, the newcomers don't care about the local services simply because they rarely us them. I was raised in a village, my parents are also from small villages, but this is "Constable county" so the chances of buying where my roots are is zero.
10. Gulpin said...
This village is already dead. We moved there to start a family, but gave up and left after 2 years. One problem is certainly the number of unoccupied holiday homes which have been held as "investments" which price out local families, but another problem is that most of the other houses are bought by retirees that just want a quiet life with no change and everything in order. There is nothing wrong with that of course, but it is very much not a place for young families to settle and regenerate the community. Its a place to go and die really. As an example, a local needs survey was carried out by the parish council. We were told we were not eligable to give our views, as we were only "renters" and did not own the property. (We only paid the local taxes which does not seem to count).
11. crunchy said...
4. Indeed briandeed.
6. inflation- I have little doubt that Labour would love to join up all these little villages, stateing that they are no longer economically viable without population growth. The dawn of Eco Towns? Hope not!
Regeneration, dont you just love it?
12. crunchy said...
The obsession with GROWTH will ruin what little remains NICE about this country!
13. fjcruiser said...
I d say who sold these second homes to the DFL in the first place ?Not the DFLs the LOCALS.
These pure peasant revolts like in the middle ages.pathetic...
14. crunchy said...
10. fjcruiser said...I d say who sold these second homes to the DFL in the first place ?Not the DFLs the LOCALS.
Good point, but to move on whatever the reason one has to finance the next property or care home. The root of the problem needs to be capped. The cookie jar lid needs to be welded.
15. crunchy said...
Don't you just love melamine cookies?
16. inbreda said...
fjc @10
the baby boomers selling their childrens future.
It is the younger generation that are losing out. The ones that will have been selling to the DFL would not have been from the generation that is suffering from unaffordable housing the most. It is yet another example of
17. letthemfall said...
This is what inevitably happens when inequalities in wealth become so extreme that a small section of the population can reserve important resources for themselves, even though they make little use of them. People won't wear it. Back in the eighties there was a campaign of arson against second homes. Things can get out of hand.