PRESS RELEASE : Mebyon Kernow demands housing justice and ban on Airbnbs [November 2022]

The press release issued by Mebyon Kernow on 21 November 2022.

Mebyon Kernow members unanimously backed a call for an immediate ban on residential dwellings being allowed to become airbnbs at their National Conference, held at Heartlands in Pool on Saturday (19th November).

In a wide-ranging debate about the housing emergency in Cornwall, party members expressed anger at the dysfunctional and out-of-control housing market, which is doing harm to so many people and their communities.

The Conference even heard personal testimony from people who had recent experience of struggling to find accommodation, including a young person who had to live in temporary accommodation in a Travelodge for many months.

Party members reaffirmed MK’s commitment to the prioritisation of proper local-needs housing over the delivery of open-market housing. They also pledged to continue to campaign for planning policies to control and reverse the spread of second homes.

Delegates at the Conference also demanded planning controls on airbnbs and an immediate ban on residential dwellings being allowed to operate as such holiday accommodation, while also calling for rent controls and an end to evictions as has been brought forward in Scotland through the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) Act which recently went through the Scottish Parliament.

Delegates at the Conference also launched the “Towards a Cornish Parliament,” and hit out at the inadequate “county deal” about to be published by the UK Government.

Speaking at the Conference, MK leader Cllr Dick Cole expressed disappointment at how central government was not doing enough to deal with the housing emergency and repeated MK demands for meaningful devolution.

He said: “The proposed ‘county deal’ will not include any decent controls over housing and planning. There has been a housing crisis in Cornwall for decades, but it is now worse than it has ever been. Devolution is needed to provide Cornwall with the tools to achieve housing justice. We are restating our commitment to a new political system – a Cornish Parliament – with all aspects of housing and planning devolved to Cornwall, which we will believe will be better placed to deliver housing justice.”