The short-term let industry was originally a way for people to rent out their spare rooms or houses to intrepid travellers who wanted to stay somewhere more authentic than a hotel. But once real estate investors started to see the success of companies like Airbnb, they were soon buying up housing stock to cash in. Are local communities now suffering as a result?
"In Elterwater in Langdale 85% of the properties are second homes. Without a large enough permanent population, villages just die."
"The school loses numbers and then closes. The bus service loses passengers, so it gets cut.
The pub loses its trade, the post office loses customers and the church loses its congregation, so they close too."
"Those who are left behind are isolated and often impoverished in communities whose life has effectively come to an end."
- Tim Farron, Liberal Democrat MP
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