LAUNCESTON residents have voiced their concerns that ‘new builds should not be allowed as holiday homes’.

The comments were posted to Facebook when one local person saw the description on Wainhomes’ website for the new Withnoe Farm development said: “Our two and three bedroom homes offer fantastic investment opportunities for holiday homes because of their outstanding location.”

Comments included ‘we need local housing for local people’, while others expressed their wish to buy, and say they are a lack of affordable rental properties locally.

A spokesperson from Wainhomes told the Post there are properties available on that site for people with a local connection from £101,500, which is a 30% discount on the market value. However, they said an advertising period had just ended and no applications for these affordable homes for local people had been received via the local authority.

They said: “We do have a number of properties on that development that are designed for local people and affordable because they are at a market discount. We will market property to the whole audience.”

Those interested in finding out if they are eligible for Help to Buy are advised to visit www.helptobuysw.org.uk/

The area’s Cornwall Councillor, Liberal Democrat Jade Farrington, said: “It’s extremely disappointing to see Wainhomes deliberately choosing to market family houses as second homes when there is such demand for housing and they could easily sell all the properties to people who actually want to live in them. They’re correct that it’s legal to advertise them as second homes, but it’s clear from the public reaction that they’ve scored a massive own goal and people find it galling to see them deliberately marketed in this way. It’s just completely unnecessary.

“We’re very fortunate in Launceston that only 1% of properties are second homes. This new development includes 35 affordable houses, with homes to buy starting at £101,500. Anyone with a connection to Launceston can find out more and register their interest at www.helptobuysw.org.uk.”

The first five discounted sale units at Withnoe are due for completion around April/May 2018 and are currently being advertised through Help to Buy SW (HTB SW), and on the Wainhomes website as well as through View Property estate agent in Launceston and on Rightmove. These five discounted sale units include 3x two-bed houses (two at £105,000 and one at £101,500), and 2x three-bed houses at £122,500. These prices equate to 70% of the open market values.

The details of these five plots were sent to the Affordable Housing Team by Wainhomes on October 4 and the team confirmed to HTB SW on October 6 that it could start advertising them.

For these first five plots, Wainhomes confirmed it had interest for them, and directed those potential purchasers to HTB SW, but HTB SW has not had any confirmed interest in these plots to date. It is going to send out another mail merge to potentially suitable applicants on its register to try and attract some interest.

Cornwall Councillor Andrew Mitchell, cabinet member for homes, said: “This development includes a total of 35 affordable homes, being 11 affordable rented homes through a housing association and 24 discounted sale homes through the developer, Wainhomes.

“Under the terms of the Section 106 agreement, the affordable homes must be sold to households who are either in housing need (living in unsuitable or insecure accommodation and unable to buy a suitable property for their needs on the open market) or who are releasing another affordable home in the county. Priority needs to be given to interested households who have a local connection to the town of Launceston but where there are no applications from such households the affordable homes can be sold to households with a local connection to Cornwall. The s106 agreement ensures that the affordable homes are always sold on initial sales to households with the minimum Cornwall local connection, at whatever stage of the marketing process.

“Under the terms of the s106 agreement the council has 28 days from the time it is notified of the intended sales and the properties are advertised to nominate suitable households. This process is undertaken (on behalf of the council) by HTB SW who approve and prioritise households in line with the council’s Affordable Homeownership policy where there are more applicants than available homes. All households firstly need to be registered on the HTB SW register. Where there is no competing demand for available homes then HTB SW simply assess households in line with the local connection and housing need criteria in the s106 agreement. Any households who come forward outside of this 28 day nomination period still need to meet the local connection and housing need criteria and be assessed as such by HTB SW. This process starts again each time any of the plots are released for sale, so only applies to the first five plots at this stage.

“With regards to Wainhomes advertising the development to second home owners, this purely relates to the open market units and not the affordable homes. Unfortunately we cannot restrict who they advertise or sell the open market units to.

“Anyone who is interested in purchasing an affordable home for sale needs to register with HTB SW. This advice is contained on the council’s website which provides contact details for HTB SW. Applicants can then view currently advertised homes and apply directly to HTB SW for any properties they are interested in. In addition, as explained above, HTB SW will notify registered applicants who are likely to have the relevant local connection when a new development or resale of an existing affordable home becomes available.”

North Cornwall Conservative MP Scott Mann said: “Affordable housing is top of my Six Point Plan for North Cornwall, so I know the concerns of people in Launceston who want to buy their own home, only to see their aspirations seemingly thwarted by properties being marketed as buy-to-let or holiday homes. That said, properties purchased by local landlords will be available for rent to local people, but holiday homes will not. It is also important to appreciate that while Wainhomes may be marketing the development as potential holiday homes, they are not exclusively for that purpose, and are for sale in the open market on the same terms to any potential buyer.

“This case is a very good example of the challenges facing the housing market. The Government is committed to levelling the playing field, having introduced both a higher rate of Stamp Duty as well as a Capital Gains Tax surcharge on second homes and buy-to-let properties. Cornwall Council also stipulated that 30 per cent of this development should be social housing and shared ownership. There is considerable demand in Launceston and across Cornwall, and developers would be wise to think of this first when marketing their homes.

“Many communities in Cornwall have, or are drawing up, Neighbourhood Development Plans, some of which include primary residence clauses whereby Cornwall Council have the power to direct developments toward meeting local need. I have no issue with these plans being expanded to other parishes and towns through neighbourhood-led development planning, as they would provide an incentive to developers to act as ‘good neighbours’ and ensure that their interests are aligned with those of local people and not seemingly at odds with them.”