Last month, a friend and I were driving to her house in Yarmouth.

As we neared, she warned me that we were about to face (in her words) “parking armageddon”. 

She wasn’t wrong. There are six or seven streets in Yarmouth where the residents, who are able to buy a “Y1” permit, can park for as long as they want. It’s a good deal — if you can find a spot.

We drove round each tiny back street of the town. Eventually, we lucked out, but it was still a five minute walk from her place. She told me we had scored the jackpot. Usually, getting a space at this time of day was near impossible.

“How do you do this every day?” I asked her.

“Oh I don’t,” she replied. “It’s only in the summer. The rest of the time there are plenty of spaces.”

And there’s the crux of the issue. My friend estimates that between two thirds and three quarters of the houses on her street are second homes or holiday lets.

Yarmouth feels the issue more keenly than other towns, but it’s a problem across the Island.

According to Hamptons, the estate agent, about seven per cent of the properties bought in 2022 on the Isle of Wight were bought as second homes.

This is way above the average for the South East (1.5 per cent) and higher than other holiday hotspots like Pembrokeshire and Brighton and Hove.

Other areas are making a stand. Last year, residents in Whitby, north Yorkshire, voted to ban any new build being sold as a second home or holiday let.

Councils in Wales can now cap the number of second homes in their area.

The Isle of Wight should be making similar moves. 

Second homes push up the cost of housing for locals. More demand equals higher prices, especially if the extra demand is coming from investors who are able to buy quickly and in cash.

As it stands, the average property price is £375,358. The average salary, at £31,000, is less than a tenth of this.

You will have also noticed the “staff wanted” signs in almost every restaurant, cafe and shop. A lack of residents in some areas will have exacerbated the recruitment crisis.

Perhaps controversially for an Islander, I also want to see new homes being built.

I want to see new houses for doctors and nurses, families looking to make the Island their home, but there seems little point if a significant chunk of any new development will be bought as a holiday let.

It would be naive to imagine a world where the Isle of Wight doesn’t need tourists, and I’m certainly not suggesting that we get rid of holiday lets and second homes completely. 

There is a balance to be struck, and a difficult line to tread.

I don’t envy policymakers. All I do know is that we’re not currently getting it right. If all the locals are priced out, what will the tourists be visiting?