Joint Open Letter calling for Fairer Housing, Stronger Communities

Friends of the Lake District, together with Parish Councils and community groups from across Cumbria and supported by allies from other parts of England, have published an open letter to Steve Reed, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, calling for him to take decisive action against the proliferation of short-term holiday lets and second homes.

For Michael Hill, CEO of Friends of the Lake District, “we have had a tremendously positive reaction to our Fairer Housing, Stronger Communities campaign which we launched in March. This open letter shows the depth and breadth of feeling within Cumbria and beyond. We urge the Minister to move quickly to disincentivise the transfer of residential properties into short-term lets or second homes and bring underused properties back onto the housing market”.

For Councillor Louise Dunn, Mayor of Keswick, “Communities in the national park need meaningful action from the authorities to find homes for people living here permanently and to deal with the particular issues we face related to housing.  We need a licensing system for holiday lets to provide a mechanism to reduce how many there are in particular areas and stop nuisance behaviour and we need to tax holiday lets appropriately.”

Read our Open Letter here