UK - Now another picturesque Norfolk village bans people from buying holiday homes in their tightknit community - as seaside towns across Britain plan 'draconian' new rules to prevent their towns being swamped with outsiders

Villagers in Blakeney voted overwhelmingly in favour of a crackdown which will mean all newbuild properties must be the owner's principal residence, with the onus on them to prove that is the case.

Existing properties in the Norfolk village will also not be allowed to be converted into holiday lets unless developers can demonstrate there will be no adverse impact on the community, such as parking problems or excessive noise.

The measures in the Neighbourhood Plan were passed by 141 votes to 16 – or 89.8 per cent.

It follows a similar vote last month in another holiday hotspot in the county, Burnham Market.

Sedgeford, Heacham, Snettisham and Holme-next-the-Sea, all in Norfolk, have also agreed restrictions, with similar fightbacks occurring in idyllic towns and villages around the UK including St Ives in Cornwall, Salcombe in Devon, Swanage in Dorset and Tenby in Pembrokeshire.

The explosion of interest in getaway homes was fuelled by the pandemic, when staycations avoided the risks and complications of travelling abroad.

But locals in popular UK destinations have complained of being unable to afford to live in the area as the influx of rich outsiders, particularly from London, forced up house prices.

Communities are then left like 'ghost towns' in the off-season when second home owners return to their principal properties and the rental market dries up.

Some 44 per cent of the 706 properties in Blakeney are second homes or holiday lets, according to official figures.

House prices have soared by almost 50 per cent in six years, with the average selling price for a property reaching £747,832. Detached houses typically sell for £925,000.

The Neighbourhood Plan states: 'Communities are being eroded through the amount of properties not occupied on a permanent basis.

'The number of 'second homes' and 'holiday homes' is a concern of local residents and seen as a key sustainability issue for Blakeney.'

Blakeney Parish Council chairman Rosemary Thew insisted outsiders were still welcome and tourism was a 'big part of the village economy'.

But she said: 'Having said that, the volume of second homes is very high, around half. It's pushing prices up quite considerably. It means that, as far as locals are concerned, they can't afford to live here.

'It's a lovely place to live but you've got people [taking up dwellings] who are not key workers. A lot are retired people or second home owners.

'In winter time, it's [the impact] particularly marked. The streets are jet black because there are no lights on in houses.'

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