Cornwall is a county of two halves. Green fields and bright blue seas. Tourists and locals. A playground for the rich and famous, and the second poorest region in northern Europe. More than 18,000 empty homes and 16,000 people on a waiting list for council housing. Some 10,000 Airbnbs and, at one point last month, fewer than 50 homes available to rent.
The county’s long-established housing shortage has been worsened by COVID-19. A new-found ability to work remotely delivered an influx of buyers to the area, which along with the stamp duty holiday, led house prices to soar. Of the eight UK postcodes where the average house price rose by more than £100,000 in the past year, three were in Cornwall – and the county overtook London as the most searched place on property website Rightmove. Many landlords saw flashing dollar signs, and quickly put properties up for sale. Others realised the potential to make money amid a boom in staycations – week-long rentals in Cornish towns have been reported to cost up to £8,000 – and turfed out tenants to establish holiday lets.
All of this created a perfect storm: a county so desirable that almost no one can live there. Sophie, an estate agent with 17 years’ experience in Cornwall who asked if we could withhold her surname, told me she has “never seen the demand as high and supply so low”. This has resulted in “extreme responses to any [rental] property we put online”, she said, with “between 75 and 100” enquiries on each.
