CALLS have been made to make changes to legislation to tackle the growing number of second homes in Cumbria.

A notice of motion to address the issue was backed by members of South Lakeland District Council’s full council. It cited attempts to charge second home owners in the Yorkshire Dales more council tax.

Those plans needed the unanimous approval of eight different authorities in the national park to proceed, but only seven gave their backing.

“Many local families face a stark reality that they can’t afford to bring their family up in the village they grew up in,” said Windermere councillor Andrew Jarvis, who raised the issue. “We all know of families that have moved to Lancaster or further afield to be able to afford an adequate home. In the meantime, we get ghost villages where schools and shops close because there aren’t any year-round residents left.

“We don’t want to punish second home owners – tourism plays a vital role in our local economy – but we do want to be able to better control the number of second homes so local families aren’t forced to move away.”

Among the changes suggested was giving councils the power to implement an additional charge on second homes and ensure owners need planning permission to make a property a second home.

The motion received near-unanimous support from other councillors, although Cllr Ben Berry did raise some concerns. He said it would be an ‘inevitability’ that property values would drop should major changes be made, resulting in negative equity.

“We want people who own homes to play an active part in communities. The issue is where home owners play no part in the community,” said Cllr Matt Severn, speaking in support of the motion. “Unless we take action, this problem will continue.”

Cllr Phil Walker added: “Let’s crack on with it or we are going to lose these communities.”

SLDC leader Cllr Giles Archibald said: “There is a social cost to second homes, and in some communities that cost is too high and we need to take action.”