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A homeowner has been denied permission to change a holiday let into a permanent residence despite claims that there is "no demand" from . Authorities in West said the barn in the pretty village of Lifton was in too remote a location to be a viable housing option, concluding that it was better-suited as a holiday let for visitors seeking a rural escape. Peter Sainsbury, who bought the site in 1999, said there was "no demand" for accommodation at Higher Carley Barns, which sits on the outskirts of Lifton, and that he hadn't used it for its designated purpose since acquiring ownership.

Councillors argued against a planning committee's refusal to change the barn's use from a short-term let, with Chris Edmunds, representative for Tamarside, describing it as "neither physically remote or cut off", lying around a mile from the village, with a direct footpath. Southeast England recorded an "abysmal" year for tourism in 2024, according to the South East Cornwall Tourism Association (SECTA), with last year's trade thought to have been the worst in a decade amid a decline in footfall by up to 15%.

Despite its recent decline in holidaymaker trade, Devon is among the tourist hotspots around the globe where a rise in short-term lets has wreaked havoc on the housing market.

A Devon Housing Commission report confirmed that the county was in the grips of "a real housing crisis" last year, with "an acute shortage of homes affordable for the next generation".

"Homeownership is beyond the reach of first-time buyers and it is virtually impossible for those on average incomes or less to obtain a rented home that is both available and affordable," commission chairman Lord Richard Best said.

Councillor Edmunds insisted that allowing the Lifton barn to be converted into a full-time home would "be an important addition to local housing stock", the Plymouth Herald reports.

But Independent councillor Ric Cheadle, chairman of West Devon Council's planning committee, said the barn was simply not in the right location for a permanent residence.

"Our housing crisis is undeniable but it does not mean you build the wrong sort of houses in the wrong place," he said.

The decline in tourist demand for Devon and Cornwall breaks has been linked to cheaper holiday packages abroad, paired with rising costs in the southeast spurred by the cost-of-living crisis and soaring inflation.

Popular seaside town Salcombe was revealed to be the most expensive place on the British coast to put down roots last year, with an average house price of £970,657, according to Lloyds Bank, and rental prices also increasing at five times the rate of inflation between 2023 and 2024.