Henry Pryor

Peter Allen is outside a chip shop on the sea front in St Ives in Cornwall as part of the stations trip around marginal constituencies. He's spoken to a number of locals about the challenges they face with housing costs which are a big issue in the area including to Danielle who with her partner and 2 children is struggling to live close to her work and to James Berwick, an agent in the town. I'm 'down the line' from Luton. My research suggests that only 5% of Cornish homes are '2nd homes'. The population is growing at 5,000 a year and 30% of Cornish homes are 'single occupancy', higher than the average for England. The most helpful survey is the 2011 Census which suggested 140,000 said they had a second home of which 6% were in Cornwall. However, since the Census is of individuals, a husband and wife would each say they had a second home but it would only be one property! Lots more helpful data here; http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-32393222 Copyright BBC