Lib Dems call for second home restrictions

23-Aug-2005

Aspiring homeowners are being kept off the first rung of the property ladder in some areas of the UK because wealthier people are buying second homes.

Some parts of the country are particularly popular with wealthy homeowners, who often buy a second home which then remains empty outside the summer months.

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As a result, aspiring first time buyers are finding it more difficult to get onto the property ladder, as prices are artificially inflated by the demand for second homes.

Therefore, Liberal Democrat MP Julia Goldsworthy has claimed that the government should require any seller planning to offload his property as a second home to obtain planning permission.

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She believes that providing local authorities with more power over this area would result in a reduction of the number of people willing to sell as second homes - largely because of the lengthy application process - and that would give first time buyers the opportunity to get onto the first rung of the property ladder.

She also suggested that other options, such as an increase in affordable housing investment and more joint ownership schemes.

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