A westcountry MP leading demands for more restrictions on short lets and holiday lettings insists he is not driven by the politics of envy.

All six Cornish MPs – three Labour and three Liberal Democrats – have called on the government to bring forward planned legislation about Airbnb-style short lets and holiday accommodation, and to close what they describe as loopholes allowing holiday home owners to suddenly turn their property into holiday lets.

Andrew George, Lib Dem MP for St Ives, says the holiday letting industry is “distorted” and claims that “over £500 million of taxpayers’ money has been handed to holiday-home owners in Cornwall in the last decade, while the housing crisis for local families has reached its worst state in living memory.” 

He continues: “The Prime Minister was right when he said that ‘those with the broadest shoulders should bear the greatest burden’, but that’s the opposite of what has happened in our housing system. 

“I’m urging [government] to end the multi-million tax loophole bonanza for second homeowners who’ve flipped their properties to become holiday lettings where they pay no tax, introduce planning restrictions on homes being used as second or holiday homes [and] establish a register of holiday lets and Airbnbs.

Earlier this month, councils – including Cornwall – were allowed to double council tax on holiday homes. 

George comments: “Though this has been a hard-won policy change that I’ve campaigned on for years … the government must go much further. 

“As I often point out, the curtailment of freedoms for second home owners isn’t motivated by the politics of envy. It’s simply the politics of social justice. We live in a free country where people should of course be free to purchase more homes for their personal use than they need, but we should also have the freedom to use tax, planning, and other tools to balance the impact of the market-distorting and accommodation-restricting consequences of those investment choices. 

“Turning around this crisis is a mammoth task, but it’s vitally important we do all we can to help the tens of thousands of local families whose lives are blighted by the serious unfairness of the system.”