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Second homes 'could face extra regulations'

The prime minister is considering a "crackdown" on second-home owners, who have been accused of pricing local people out of buying a home in rural areas.

This is because local residents cannot compete financially with wealthy city-dwellers for houses - and therefore find it hard to secure a home loan.

According to the Daily Mail, Gordon Brown has commissioned an inquiry into the properties - of which there are 240,000 in the UK.

Cornwall Liberal Democrat Matthew Taylor, whose constituency contains many second homes, will head the enquiry.

Commenting on his work, the MP suggested that planning permission could be required in future for homes to be converted from full to part-time occupation.

"This measure would allow local authorities to say that a property cannot be converted from a full-time home into a second home," he claimed.

Mr Taylor added that second home ownership was a "huge problem" in the UK - with half of some villages being left "dark" for "most of the year".

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