We arrived on Exmoor just before dark, after an epic traverse of southern
England. We say it’s four hours from London, indeed from almost anywhere,
but, in reality, it’s more like six. I pulled into the yard, cut the engine
and my pulse slowed. A bright crescent moon was rising over the barn. The
nettles were high by the front door. As I opened the larder, a cloud of
bluebottles buzzed in my hair, and there was an affronted rustling: a mouse,
happily nesting in the flour bin, looked at me, beady-eyed and unafraid, as
if to say, “What are you doing here?”
Good question, I admit. This farmhouse on Exmoor is a second home. We spend
most of our time in the capital, coming down to west Somerset only for
holidays and half terms. Although this means I am one of the 350,000 lucky
Britons estimated to own a second home here, my good fortune also apparently
makes me a social pariah.
Even though almost all our MPs own at least one second home in their
constituency – I’ve always wondered whether this has prevented yet more
punitive legislation – and are all too happy to own up to drug-taking or
homosexual-ity, owning a second home is now the lifestyle that dares not
speak its name. We are blamed for the closure of post offices, schools and
GPs’ surgeries, foot-and-mouth disease, the hunting ban, the floods – you
name it – even though second homes make up only about 1% of the housing
stock.
While researching this article, I spoke to several second-homeowners,
including the head of a charity, a left-wing columnist and the editor of a
newspaper. All of them said their homes had changed their lives for the
better and claimed to be active members of the local community. None,
however, was prepared to be quoted by name – not even the chairman of the
Second Home Owners’ Club. Their reticence is not surprising: second-homers
and incoming businesses in Westmorland and Cornwall have been on the
receiving end of death threats. A group calling itself the Cornwall National
Liberation Army has threatened to fire-bomb the county’s two famous
eateries: Rick Stein’s Seafood Restaurant in Padstow and Jamie Oliver’s
Fifteen, near Newquay. So I write these words with a slightly trembly hand.
When we do visit, sometimes for months at a time, we too use local shops and
services, and we depend completely on local plumbers and builders when the
loo breaks and the roof leaks. Since buying the house in 2001, we have used
a local carpenter to renew all the woodwork in the yard; a job that ran into
five figures.
That might sound defensive and self-justifying, coming as it does from the
co-owner of two houses. But, at a time when the government is planning to
build 3m new homes (many of them on flood plains) to address the crippling
problems of affordable housing, especially for first-time buyers, what else
can I say in my defence?
Well, how about the fact that we bought the place off my father to stop it
leaving the family and also to preserve the integrity of this ancient hill
farm in the national park, where there are only three habitations, all of
them lived in by close relatives (scary, but true). That I bought my home,
sweet second home in the place where my family has lived for generations – I
spent much of my childhood on the estate and went to the village school.
That the skilled workers we use also worked for my father, and worked and
drank with my grandfather, a local farmer. That I won’t go anywhere else, if
I can help it.
Over the past few years, the government has added to the cost of second-home
ownership. Following pressure from the anti-second-home lobby, local
authorities are now allowed to increase the council tax paid by
second-home-owners from 50% to 90% of the full rate, provided the extra
revenue raised is spent creating affordable housing for local people. (In
reality, it often isn’t.) Also, unlike with a primary residence, any profit
made when selling is liable for capital gains tax.
This does not go far enough for some: the Affordable Rural Housing Commission,
set up by the government two years ago, has said that anyone buying a
property for use as a second home should have to apply to the planners for a
change of use. It has also called for an “impact tax” to be imposed on
second-homeowners in what it calls “specific honey-pot areas”. The proposals
are being studied by Sir Michael Lyons as part of his review of local
government.
But we live in a market- not a command-economy, which means we should be free
to spend our money as we wish. The state has not – yet – banned a daughter
from buying property on her father’s estate (if you like the idea of that
sort of place, you’d love North Korea). According to the experts, even if
the state did, it would not solve the housing crisis anyway.
“Steps to provide new affordable housing with restrictions on occupation are
far more likely to be an effective means of ensuring that sufficient stock
is retained for people employed in the local economy, than measures designed
to discourage second-home ownership in existing stock,” says Lucian Cook,
head of residential research at Savills.
I do hope he’s right. Another thing, rarely mentioned, is that the reason a
lot of second homes are second homes is not because the rich are buying them
up with their bonuses and distorting the local market, but that their sheer
inaccessibility means few people would honestly want them as first homes.
The appeal of many such properties is that they act as decompression chambers
from the routine of daily life. As the chairman of the Second Home Owners’
Club says: “We invest in the areas and lavish attention on houses that, if
it weren’t for us, would be a toss-up between desertion and dereliction.”
Many second homes – like mine – are miles from the nearest shop, up a rutted
track, and have no central heating, wall-to-wall carpeting or multiple
ensuite bathrooms. The conditions are, shall we say, primitive. When townie
friends come to stay, I warn them: “It’s one up from camping.”
I can’t think of many full-time takers for this place, and I can’t think of
any who would love it half as much as I do.
www.second-homes.org
Somewhere for the weekend...
... from London
On a good day, Bell Lane Cottage in Great Milton, the same village as Le
Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons, a few miles from the M40, is just over an hour’s
drive from the capital. Or you can catch the train to Oxford, eight miles
away, and hop in a cab. The 18th-century thatched cottage has three double
bedrooms, two bathrooms, two reception rooms and a one-bedroom annexe with a
shower above the garage, which is suitable for extra guests or could be
converted into a small home office. The interior is a little dated, but
easily touched up. For sale for £575,000, with Hamptons; 01865 512332, www.hamptons.co.uk
... from Manchester
Cross the border and tuck into fantastic sea views and a rack of Welsh lamb
with laver bread. The town of Llandudno, a two-hour drive along the A55,
between the castellated town of Conwy and the sweeping sands of Colwyn Bay,
has become increasingly popular with the Cheshire set. This three-bedroom
flat, one of nine in the converted and recently renovated Bodlondeb Castle,
has a dining room and kitchen area, two ensuite bathrooms, plus two private
parking spaces. For sale for £399,950, with Anthony Flint; 01492 877418, www.anthonyflint.co.uk
... from Newcastle
On the edge of Northumberland National Park, in the tiny hamlet of Snitter,
North Croft Cottage was once owned by the local parcel-and-mail carrier.
Dating back to 1828, it has two bedrooms, a bathroom and two downstairs
rooms with beamed ceilings and an inglenook fireplace. There’s no garden to
speak of, so the owners rent one nearby. Fifteen miles from Alnwick, it is a
50-minute drive to Newcastle. The price has just been reduced by £14,000,
and it could let for up to £400 per week. For sale for £185,000, with George
F White; 01665 603581, www.georgefwhite.co.uk
... from Birmingham
Overlooking the village duck pond in Willersey, Worcestershire, Pool End is
your typical Cotswold cottage. The Grade II-listed property has two double
bedrooms and a beamed sitting room, complete with mullioned leaded-light
windows and a decorative stone fireplace. Outside, it has a small lawned
garden with blooming herbaceous borders, clematis and copper beech trees,
plus a garage. It is 1.5 miles from Broadway and six from Evesham, where
there are mainline train services. For sale for £435,000, with HaymanJoyce;
01386 858510, www.haymanjoyce.co.uk
