Lake District Cottages And The Economy

May the 3rd is approaching and yet another polling day is to be had. What will be achieved from this day? Well all is to be seen nothing to be guaranteed. Politics is a minefield of which I choose to stay out of. Yet it’s something we are all involved in, in some way, shape or form as every day we use a service that in some way is connected politically, therefore we cannot avoid it. The important thing is to vote, we all have an opinion on the way things are run and we should air these opinions and hear what others have to say in order to reach some form of resolution. Although the Lake District is a major world attraction we must also consider the people who currently live there. Yes it’s fabulous that that the fact that’s a major attraction and the tourism brings in much needed revenue and opportunities we must also note that housing is a major issue in these parts. Albeit other areas of tourism are hit as hard too, but the Lake District is one area in great need. There are generations of families who have resided in Cumbria and due to the tremendous numbers of traffic to the area, has seen a massive increase in house prices and now housing for genuine Cumbrian people seem to be too far to even be an option to buy. So too the rental prices have increased so much that we are now seeing an increase of people having to leave Cumbria and all they know behind. It has previously been mentioned that due to huge bonuses paid out in the UK cities this has allowed people to buy our Lake District Cottages and thus increases the prices in the general area. Due to the amount of purchases of these house and thus the increase in general it has become harder for locals to make an attempt to stay in the area. The local MP is doing his best to try and clamp down on empty housing. Knowing it’s not fair that houses stand empty for approximately 11 months of the year while locals have no choice but to seek shelter in assisted housing units. Some people take the initiative to rent these houses to either tourism or to locals of which is beneficial to both locals and tourism. Yet the houses that remain empty for years surely should be made to be put to better use? Propositions for new developments and low cost housing are being fought against as many people believe this would spoil our area of natural beauty and eventually we would end up with no National Park, just an area full of houses. Should there be some new legislation placed to advise that if you purchase a second home you must live there for approx 6 months of the year every year or at least put it to good use and provide housing for someone who really needs it? All this is up for discussion and I know who I will be voting for on May the 3rd.