Morston: More than half of homes in village are holiday lets

More than half of properties in Norfolk village of Morston are either holiday lets or second homes

More than half of properties in a coastal village are now holiday lets or second homes, a district council says.

About 52 per cent of homes in the coastal parish of Morston in north Norfolk are not primary residences.

That is a rise from last year when figures showed 31 of its 65 homes were mainly used by people who were not permanent residents.

It means the village has overtaken nearby Salthouse, where 50.3% of homes were not occupied full-time.

North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) is currently preparing a report into the impact of second homes.

It revealed the information ahead of the authority's overview and scrutiny committee meeting on 20 July, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

'Strong community group'

Roberta Hamond, vice-chair of Morston Parish Council, said the village had been fortunate, at least when it came to second homes, that the owners had integrated themselves into the community.

"They're up at weekends, they're involved in our fundraising for the church and quite a few of our full-time people now, began as second home-owners. We have a really strong community group."

She added that it was still important for there to be a "balance", but that the village was protected to an extent from aggressive development by its geography and the fact that it lies within the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

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A recent analysis by the BBC, looking at holiday lets specifically, found that they had increased by 40% across England from 2018 to 2021.

The biggest proportional increase in the county was in Norwich, which saw a rise of more than 100%, "although from a fairly small base", the BBC reported.

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North Norfolk now has 2,600 holiday lets, up 400 since before the pandemic. In Great Yarmouth, there was a 44% rise - from 871 to 1,251.

South Norfolk meanwhile saw a 97% increase, from 117 to 230.

The Suffolk town of Southwold is also popular with second-home owners

And East Suffolk, which includes tourist hotspots like Southwold and Aldeburgh, saw the third-highest increase in the country, going from 1,475 to 1,614 over the same three-year period.

The analysis comes just as the government has announced plans to conduct a national review into the impact of holiday lets across the county.

Housing minister Stuart Andrew said recently that holiday lets helped "boost tourism across the country, but we need to make sure this doesn't drive residents out of their communities."