Green Eyed Monster or Justification?

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Drax
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Green Eyed Monster or Justification?

Post by Drax »

Yesterday, whilst buying some lottery tickets in our local newsagents my wife and began talking with the owner. The conversation with the newsagent began light-heartedly with what each of us stating what we would do if we won the lottery. However it changed abruptly when the newsagent went into a bit of a rant saying that if he won the lottery he would buy all of the houses that were for sale in the village to stop them being bought for holiday lets. He said it was disgraceful that homes were being denied to local people and that young people in the village could not afford to buy houses because house prices were high due to their value as holiday lets and second homes.
His outburst surprised me because he knows that I have a holiday let in the village, I am a regular customer in his shop and up to now always got on well with him.
After a rather terse challenge to his opinion my wife and I left and went home rather annoyed.
This is not the first time that local people have made negative comments to me regarding holiday home owners denying local people homes, the last one was my plumber who went into a similar rant. The irony is that we have given him a terrific amount of business and money with him working on the renovation of our cottage and our holiday house.
I wonder if other holiday home owners on here have faced similar 'hostility' from locals towards their ownership of holiday homes?
As a postscript we won £10 on the lottery ticket that we bought in the newsagents.
Keep your powder dry.
Sam V
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Post by Sam V »

Hmm, I see it as a bit of a chicken and egg scenario.

If the holiday lets have put the price of houses up, why weren’t the locals and youngsters buying them when they were cheaper?

Is it not also relative? Is it only the holiday lets have gone up in value? The locals houses haven’t?

Do the youngsters want to live there?

If there are so many lets in the area then I'm guessing it attracts tourists, who in turn provide business for the locals. What would they have otherwise?

Just some random thoughts.
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Fleur
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Post by Fleur »

And in addition to the comments above, locals must have originally sold their houses to outsiders and been very pleased with the money they've pocketed.
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Moliere
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Post by Moliere »

All the above comments are true. It seems to me that it’s a question of proportion; a few holiday homes brings life and business to a place, beyond a certain point however, the village starts to be consumed by them. As the man said, local people can’t afford to buy in their home village, because there’s always an outsider prepared to offer a higher price. Now, whether a vendor might be sufficiently ethical to forgo that higher price to assist a young villager to buy, that’s a whole new question. :roll:
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CSE
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Post by CSE »

People live near to where the work is. Is here a demand for workers in the area? Decent work that is.
then there is another issue. There are hardly any full time jobs these days. The job for life is certainly non existent. Short erm contracts lower salaries are another factor.

So a question is this shop owning family a local resident? Are they what maybe termed an incomer from a "large" urbanisation?
Answers to these and more may bring up pots and blacks in the subject.

PS Maybe the shows like Location, Location, Location or Escape to the Country are partly a cause in all of this.

Have to say here in Spain they are desperate for the villages to be repopulated. But it is that issue of a lack of work raising it's head again.
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LotBoy47
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Post by LotBoy47 »

It’s rather different here in rural SW France. The locals aren’t interested in restoring all the run down property that the Brits are buying.

They’re either busy farming the land they’ve owned for generations or buying up those little cookie cutter new build homes and working in the nearby towns and cities.
Drax
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Location: Yorkshire Dales

Post by Drax »

My heading 'Green Eyed Monster or Justification' posed the question whether the criticism of holiday home owners by local villagers is caused by envy or the injustice of a housing system (driven by market forces) that denies many villagers a home of their own because they live in an attractive area.
I suspect it is a mixture of both.
In rural areas local wages are always lowly paid and stable, well paid, long term employment is difficult, if nigh on impossible to find.
So seeing comparatively wealthy 'off comers' buying up village houses as holiday lets or second homes undeniably causes resentment.
However holiday homes do provide employment for local tradesmen in the form of renovation projects etc and holidaymakers do inject money into the local area, restaurants, cafes, pubs, shopping etc.
As things stand envy and resentment against holiday lets and second home owners will continue in local communities and most owners will probably be aware of it.
On a personal level it is annoying to be criticised by envious people who are also fellow villagers, some of whom are 'off comers' themselves. My wife was born in the village and her family have lived here for many generations, I also come from a nearby village.
After we married we had to leave the area to find better paid work, living and working in sometimes less pleasant surroundings. Eventually, after many years, we retired and returned to the village, worked hard to renovate our cottage and our holiday house, with the aim of providing a little extra income for ourselves.
We are irked to say the least.
Keep your powder dry.
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