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| ‘English out’: Cornwall’s fightback against second homes | ‘English out’: Cornwall’s fightback against second homes |
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| This summer, as holidaymakers walk along the Atlantic-facing cliffs around St Just, the nearest town to Land’s End in west Cornwall, they will come across a sign that says: “English out.” It keeps being retouched. It is one of the reminders that there are still tensions between the annual flood of incomers and the Cornish, who were granted the same Celtic minority status as the Scots, Irish and Welsh in 2014. | This summer, as holidaymakers walk along the Atlantic-facing cliffs around St Just, the nearest town to Land’s End in west Cornwall, they will come across a sign that says: “English out.” It keeps being retouched. It is one of the reminders that there are still tensions between the annual flood of incomers and the Cornish, who were granted the same Celtic minority status as the Scots, Irish and Welsh in 2014. |
| Related: 'We're being slowly suffocated': UK readers on the problem of second homes | Related: 'We're being slowly suffocated': UK readers on the problem of second homes |
| The age-old tensions have reached boiling point, with three popular tourist destinations on the coast taking steps to ban second homes. Battle lines were drawn in May, when residents in the seaside resort of St Ives voted by 83% to ban second-home owners buying any new-build developments. This groundswell of defiance was picked up by two more of Cornwall’s most popular destinations on the south coast: the historic town of Fowey and picturesque fishing port of Mevagissey. Both towns followed St Ives’s example by including similar proposals in their own draft neighbourhood plans. Second homes account for a third of properties in Fowey and a quarter in Mevagissey. Cornwall has 29,015 second homes and 242,213 main-residence homes, according to 2015 figures from Cornwall council. | |
| “We share the concerns of St Ives on the effect of second homes on the vitality of the town,” says David Hughes, Fowey town councillor. “The centre of Fowey is empty in May. There is a desperate shortage of housing. Young people are struggling. It is more lucrative for second-homers to rent their properties over the summer than to local people all year round. Young people have to live in St Austell and travel back to visit their infirm parents.” | “We share the concerns of St Ives on the effect of second homes on the vitality of the town,” says David Hughes, Fowey town councillor. “The centre of Fowey is empty in May. There is a desperate shortage of housing. Young people are struggling. It is more lucrative for second-homers to rent their properties over the summer than to local people all year round. Young people have to live in St Austell and travel back to visit their infirm parents.” |
| It is an issue fiercely debated across Cornwall. St Ives residents were barracked loudly by developers in a heated meeting before the vote. Residents’ primary concern is that second homes have pushed up house prices beyond the reach of locals who want to live there permanently. The average house price is £324,000, which is 18 times the typical local salary of £15,000-£17,000. Many houses sell for more than a million. Some properties let for £3,000 a week. Yet Cornwall is one of the most deprived areas in western Europe, less wealthy than Poland. | It is an issue fiercely debated across Cornwall. St Ives residents were barracked loudly by developers in a heated meeting before the vote. Residents’ primary concern is that second homes have pushed up house prices beyond the reach of locals who want to live there permanently. The average house price is £324,000, which is 18 times the typical local salary of £15,000-£17,000. Many houses sell for more than a million. Some properties let for £3,000 a week. Yet Cornwall is one of the most deprived areas in western Europe, less wealthy than Poland. |
| One example of the rise in new-builds is Una St Ives, where the London investment fund Frogmore plans to build 123 luxury holiday homes on a 20-acre site around a pool, spa and restaurant three miles from St Ives and one mile from Carbis Bay. In the first phase, it built 23 houses and 19 remain unsold. | One example of the rise in new-builds is Una St Ives, where the London investment fund Frogmore plans to build 123 luxury holiday homes on a 20-acre site around a pool, spa and restaurant three miles from St Ives and one mile from Carbis Bay. In the first phase, it built 23 houses and 19 remain unsold. |
| “The second-homers that we like are like the children’s writer Michael Foreman, who works in London but uses his place here. The ones we don’t like are where the banker takes his bonus and decides to collect some property in St Ives as an investment,” says Toni Carver, editor of St Ives newspaper the Times & Echo. “Our young readers are not being replaced because youngsters are moving out. Also, people retiring to St Ives buy two houses now. They live in one and rent out the other.” | “The second-homers that we like are like the children’s writer Michael Foreman, who works in London but uses his place here. The ones we don’t like are where the banker takes his bonus and decides to collect some property in St Ives as an investment,” says Toni Carver, editor of St Ives newspaper the Times & Echo. “Our young readers are not being replaced because youngsters are moving out. Also, people retiring to St Ives buy two houses now. They live in one and rent out the other.” |
| Dick Cole, leader of Mebyon Kernow, the Cornish devolutionist party, is more passionate. | Dick Cole, leader of Mebyon Kernow, the Cornish devolutionist party, is more passionate. |
| “People say second-homers do things for the community,” he says. “But if a local family lived in the house then the money they would contribute would be much greater and it would be circulated all year round. Second-homers could move into any of the 250,000 main properties in Cornwall.” | “People say second-homers do things for the community,” he says. “But if a local family lived in the house then the money they would contribute would be much greater and it would be circulated all year round. Second-homers could move into any of the 250,000 main properties in Cornwall.” |
| Others are far more sympathetic to second homes. Harding Laity is a clubbable figure of 80 who can be found every day at 5pm in the low-beamed Sloop Inn, one of Cornwall’s oldest pubs, which has been a fishermen’s haunt since 1312. “The incomers tend to add rather than take away,” he says. “They buy a boat, they’ll be in town to lobby to keep St Ives on an even keel, keep it civilised.” | Others are far more sympathetic to second homes. Harding Laity is a clubbable figure of 80 who can be found every day at 5pm in the low-beamed Sloop Inn, one of Cornwall’s oldest pubs, which has been a fishermen’s haunt since 1312. “The incomers tend to add rather than take away,” he says. “They buy a boat, they’ll be in town to lobby to keep St Ives on an even keel, keep it civilised.” |
| As an estate agent, Harding has sold off every granite fisherman’s cottage, every pilchard cellar and netloft in the district of Downalong, the old fishing quarter of St Ives. Downalong is right in the heart of town, its narrow cobbled streets within close walking distance of the white sands of Porthmeor beach and the harbour. As a boy, Harding wasn’t allowed to go to Downalong, because there were rough men in smocks clattering over the cobbles. Now, it is a sought-after residential area with many stone fishermen’s cottages converted into holiday lets. | As an estate agent, Harding has sold off every granite fisherman’s cottage, every pilchard cellar and netloft in the district of Downalong, the old fishing quarter of St Ives. Downalong is right in the heart of town, its narrow cobbled streets within close walking distance of the white sands of Porthmeor beach and the harbour. As a boy, Harding wasn’t allowed to go to Downalong, because there were rough men in smocks clattering over the cobbles. Now, it is a sought-after residential area with many stone fishermen’s cottages converted into holiday lets. |
| Linda Taylor, the mayor of St Ives, toes a tactful line between supporting her community and recognising the huge spending power second-homers and holidaymakers bring in peak season. “Second-homers are vital to our economy,” she says. “They need housekeepers, plumbers, local produce is bought in the town, they don’t all phone up supermarkets. We don’t have the scope for heavy industry to provide jobs.” | Linda Taylor, the mayor of St Ives, toes a tactful line between supporting her community and recognising the huge spending power second-homers and holidaymakers bring in peak season. “Second-homers are vital to our economy,” she says. “They need housekeepers, plumbers, local produce is bought in the town, they don’t all phone up supermarkets. We don’t have the scope for heavy industry to provide jobs.” |
| But she admits: “We do lose a lot of young people. They are not going to find a career in Cornwall. We try to pull them back. I’m romantic, but we may not get them back until they’ve retired.” | But she admits: “We do lose a lot of young people. They are not going to find a career in Cornwall. We try to pull them back. I’m romantic, but we may not get them back until they’ve retired.” |
| Cornish-born John Hocking, 22, plans to leave Cornwall. He works 50 hours a week as a full-time waiter at the Lifeboat Inn in St Ives. After rent he takes home £250 a week. | Cornish-born John Hocking, 22, plans to leave Cornwall. He works 50 hours a week as a full-time waiter at the Lifeboat Inn in St Ives. After rent he takes home £250 a week. |
| “The St Ives shops are too expensive for me,” he says. “I go to Plymouth to clothes-shop. When I lived in Newport it had more job opportunities, more city living with nightclubs and cocktail bars. St Ives hasn’t got that kind of scene.” | “The St Ives shops are too expensive for me,” he says. “I go to Plymouth to clothes-shop. When I lived in Newport it had more job opportunities, more city living with nightclubs and cocktail bars. St Ives hasn’t got that kind of scene.” |
| Ben Lucas, 25, works 58 hours a week at the Tearoom in St Ives. He earns £7.20 an hour and lives with his parents in Carbis Bay, paying them £50 a week rent. Last year, Ben had three jobs through the season, including working at a late-night bar in Fore Street, The Attic, until it closed down 10 months ago. He also does painting and decorating for second-homers from Manchester and Birmingham who are doing up multiple properties in St Ives. | Ben Lucas, 25, works 58 hours a week at the Tearoom in St Ives. He earns £7.20 an hour and lives with his parents in Carbis Bay, paying them £50 a week rent. Last year, Ben had three jobs through the season, including working at a late-night bar in Fore Street, The Attic, until it closed down 10 months ago. He also does painting and decorating for second-homers from Manchester and Birmingham who are doing up multiple properties in St Ives. |
| “The St Ives shops don’t cater for locals,” Ben says. “I go to Truro to shop because it is bigger and the shops are not so touristy.” He points out that independent shops have given way to brands including Quba, Oska, Seasalt, Superdry and Cath Kidston. “St Ives is gloomy in winter and there’s a lot of pressure on young locals to travel. My friends save enough to winter in Bali in tents. My girlfriend’s parents from Birmingham have bought a second home to let out. The neighbourhood plan is to stop corporations and businesses building huge amounts of new-builds, selling them as second homes to rent as holiday lets. So, hopefully, the price of new builds will go down, people will start having families and new teachers will stay.” | “The St Ives shops don’t cater for locals,” Ben says. “I go to Truro to shop because it is bigger and the shops are not so touristy.” He points out that independent shops have given way to brands including Quba, Oska, Seasalt, Superdry and Cath Kidston. “St Ives is gloomy in winter and there’s a lot of pressure on young locals to travel. My friends save enough to winter in Bali in tents. My girlfriend’s parents from Birmingham have bought a second home to let out. The neighbourhood plan is to stop corporations and businesses building huge amounts of new-builds, selling them as second homes to rent as holiday lets. So, hopefully, the price of new builds will go down, people will start having families and new teachers will stay.” |
| There has been a dramatic rise in rough sleepers in Cornwall during 2015, up 62.5% from 2014. | There has been a dramatic rise in rough sleepers in Cornwall during 2015, up 62.5% from 2014. |
| Cornwall has always been a hotbed of rebellion; there are recent signs of that defiance of Westminster. Plaid Cymru and the SNP have allied with Mebyon Kernow to oppose cuts to Cornish language funding. In May, Kelly’s ice-cream broadcast the first mainstream TV advert in Cornish. In March, rugby player Jack Nowell, the hero of England’s Six Nations Grand Slam win and the son of a Newlyn trawlerman, and another Cornish player, Luke Cowan-Dickie, paraded the Cornish flag around the Paris stadium. | Cornwall has always been a hotbed of rebellion; there are recent signs of that defiance of Westminster. Plaid Cymru and the SNP have allied with Mebyon Kernow to oppose cuts to Cornish language funding. In May, Kelly’s ice-cream broadcast the first mainstream TV advert in Cornish. In March, rugby player Jack Nowell, the hero of England’s Six Nations Grand Slam win and the son of a Newlyn trawlerman, and another Cornish player, Luke Cowan-Dickie, paraded the Cornish flag around the Paris stadium. |
| Another aspect of the Cornish fightback against the housing crisis is to live on boats or in caravans. Stacey Edgecombe, born in Newlyn, found a deserted 25ft caravan in a field on the cliffs near Pendeen. He and his friends made it stable with concrete, built a flue, installed a wood burner and lived in it. They sawed a mattress in half and plumbed their toilet into an old tin mineshaft. Stacey became a fisherman but stopped when one of his friends was drowned. He was so broke he was sofa-surfing with nowhere to live. Mousehole was a ghost town in winter, with not a single light on along the quay: it has the highest ratio of second homes in the Penwith peninsula in west Cornwall. Fifteen of his friends decided to march on Mousehole and take over all the empty second homes. | Another aspect of the Cornish fightback against the housing crisis is to live on boats or in caravans. Stacey Edgecombe, born in Newlyn, found a deserted 25ft caravan in a field on the cliffs near Pendeen. He and his friends made it stable with concrete, built a flue, installed a wood burner and lived in it. They sawed a mattress in half and plumbed their toilet into an old tin mineshaft. Stacey became a fisherman but stopped when one of his friends was drowned. He was so broke he was sofa-surfing with nowhere to live. Mousehole was a ghost town in winter, with not a single light on along the quay: it has the highest ratio of second homes in the Penwith peninsula in west Cornwall. Fifteen of his friends decided to march on Mousehole and take over all the empty second homes. |
| Squatters did move into one of Mousehole’s picturesque fishing cottages and changed the locks, but the police moved them on. One Cornish anarchist website tells prospective squatters how to contact the Land Registry to find out about owners, or to go through their mail on entry. Stacey decided against squatting and instead worked as a builder for second-homers in Mousehole. | Squatters did move into one of Mousehole’s picturesque fishing cottages and changed the locks, but the police moved them on. One Cornish anarchist website tells prospective squatters how to contact the Land Registry to find out about owners, or to go through their mail on entry. Stacey decided against squatting and instead worked as a builder for second-homers in Mousehole. |
| “After Big Bang in the City happened Mousehole was flooded with yuppies,” says long-term resident Leon Pezzacks. “One London estate agent came down and went through lots of houses in a couple of years. He would buy a house, gut it, do it up, put his son in one, then another one for his daughter.” Stacey refitted the kitchen in one Mousehole cottage four times in 10 years, installing the old kitchen units in his own home each time. “Some pay me on time, some are so rich they don’t see the urgency,” he said. | “After Big Bang in the City happened Mousehole was flooded with yuppies,” says long-term resident Leon Pezzacks. “One London estate agent came down and went through lots of houses in a couple of years. He would buy a house, gut it, do it up, put his son in one, then another one for his daughter.” Stacey refitted the kitchen in one Mousehole cottage four times in 10 years, installing the old kitchen units in his own home each time. “Some pay me on time, some are so rich they don’t see the urgency,” he said. |
| Other evidence of the housing disparity is the number of homeless people in Cornwall. The latest figures from the Department of Communities and Local Government show a dramatic rise in rough sleepers in Cornwall during 2015, up 62.5% from 2014. Cornwall has one of the highest rates of rough sleeping of all local authorities. A homeless man lived in the caves at Tintagel, the legendary seat of King Arthur. | Other evidence of the housing disparity is the number of homeless people in Cornwall. The latest figures from the Department of Communities and Local Government show a dramatic rise in rough sleepers in Cornwall during 2015, up 62.5% from 2014. Cornwall has one of the highest rates of rough sleeping of all local authorities. A homeless man lived in the caves at Tintagel, the legendary seat of King Arthur. |
| Another aspect of the housing crisis is the rise of liveaboards on boats. I was told of a man who cut adrift a cruiser yacht in Penryn, belonging to a city trader from London. He registered it with the harbour master and lived onboard. The harbour master said he was not aware of this incident, but acknowledged that it is difficult to keep track of boat owners, especially when boats change hands easily and people sublet moorings. After the financial crisis, many owners abandoned their boats on moorings along the Truro river, unable to pay for their upkeep. | Another aspect of the housing crisis is the rise of liveaboards on boats. I was told of a man who cut adrift a cruiser yacht in Penryn, belonging to a city trader from London. He registered it with the harbour master and lived onboard. The harbour master said he was not aware of this incident, but acknowledged that it is difficult to keep track of boat owners, especially when boats change hands easily and people sublet moorings. After the financial crisis, many owners abandoned their boats on moorings along the Truro river, unable to pay for their upkeep. |
| Students at Falmouth university are turning to liveaboards on boats as a cheaper alternative to rising rents. In the Ponsharden boatyard in Falmouth, manager John Kerhoas lets four- to eight-berth yachts out to students who can’t afford £600 a month for a one-bed flat. For £41 a week they live on a moored yacht between 34ft and 50ft long, and share a toilet and shower block in the yard. | Students at Falmouth university are turning to liveaboards on boats as a cheaper alternative to rising rents. In the Ponsharden boatyard in Falmouth, manager John Kerhoas lets four- to eight-berth yachts out to students who can’t afford £600 a month for a one-bed flat. For £41 a week they live on a moored yacht between 34ft and 50ft long, and share a toilet and shower block in the yard. |
| “You can drop your anchor anywhere in the river,” Kerhoas says. “There is a good community here of young people and couples. Students living in the boatyard bring the advantage of added security.” | “You can drop your anchor anywhere in the river,” Kerhoas says. “There is a good community here of young people and couples. Students living in the boatyard bring the advantage of added security.” |
| In summer along the Helston river, local people live on their boats. “We have people who rent out their houses as holiday lets throughout the summer and live on boats,” the Fowey harbourmaster said. “This could be anything from 20ft to 46ft.” | In summer along the Helston river, local people live on their boats. “We have people who rent out their houses as holiday lets throughout the summer and live on boats,” the Fowey harbourmaster said. “This could be anything from 20ft to 46ft.” |
| Some fishermen live on board their boats to save money. But the ladders down are slippery with oil and seaweed. In Newlyn there have been a number of tragedies. In 2010, a popular fisherman, Gary Roberts, spent his 53rd birthday in the Swordfish pub, then slipped and drowned in the harbour. In 2011, a 17-year-old left the Swordfish to sleep on the Emma Louise, a crabbing boat, but was later found drowned. | Some fishermen live on board their boats to save money. But the ladders down are slippery with oil and seaweed. In Newlyn there have been a number of tragedies. In 2010, a popular fisherman, Gary Roberts, spent his 53rd birthday in the Swordfish pub, then slipped and drowned in the harbour. In 2011, a 17-year-old left the Swordfish to sleep on the Emma Louise, a crabbing boat, but was later found drowned. |
| Related: Jack Nowell: We’ve all got a tattoo in my family – it’s what fishermen did | Related: Jack Nowell: We’ve all got a tattoo in my family – it’s what fishermen did |
| Gary’s friend Martin Ellis is a popular fisherman from Cadgwith on the Lizard Peninsula. | Gary’s friend Martin Ellis is a popular fisherman from Cadgwith on the Lizard Peninsula. |
| Known as “Nutty Noah”, he pioneered ring-netting for pilchards, reviving an ancient practice that many thought was a lost cause. One night, overladen with pilchards, his boat sank in Mount’s Bay. Fishing left him with debts. He now lives in a shack he made himself out of driftwood, between two caravans up the hill from Cadgwith in Ruan Minor. His ex-wife lives in one caravan. His daughter Toots lived in the other. The old fishermen’s cottages in Cadgwith have been bought up, as the cove is popular with tourists. | Known as “Nutty Noah”, he pioneered ring-netting for pilchards, reviving an ancient practice that many thought was a lost cause. One night, overladen with pilchards, his boat sank in Mount’s Bay. Fishing left him with debts. He now lives in a shack he made himself out of driftwood, between two caravans up the hill from Cadgwith in Ruan Minor. His ex-wife lives in one caravan. His daughter Toots lived in the other. The old fishermen’s cottages in Cadgwith have been bought up, as the cove is popular with tourists. |
| “They are after quaint little places and quaint people. Whatever quaint is. I suppose I’m fucking quaint,” Martin jokes. | “They are after quaint little places and quaint people. Whatever quaint is. I suppose I’m fucking quaint,” Martin jokes. |
| One of Toots’ greatest memories is going fishing for months with her dad. They are both fiercely proud of being Cornish. | One of Toots’ greatest memories is going fishing for months with her dad. They are both fiercely proud of being Cornish. |
| “You can understand the Welsh burning the second homes,” he says. “Trying to protect their heritage like that.” | |
| “This is a gathering of Cornish confidence and independence,” says David Hughes from Fowey. “We are very proud to be our own little Duchy. It’s like being Welsh. The second homes is a sign of a deeper sense of identity and invasion.” | |
| • The Swordfish and the Star: Life on Cornwall’s most treacherous stretch of coast, by Gavin Knight, is published by Chatto & Windus on Thursday 2 June. Available from the Guardian bookshop, price £13.59 (RRP £16.99). | • The Swordfish and the Star: Life on Cornwall’s most treacherous stretch of coast, by Gavin Knight, is published by Chatto & Windus on Thursday 2 June. Available from the Guardian bookshop, price £13.59 (RRP £16.99). |