An Amendment was selected and published on the Marshalled List in Ms Sugden's name, however she is unwell and unable to attend the Chamber to move that amendment.

I beg to move

That this Assembly recognises the impact that holiday homes and short-term lets have on several rural and coastal communities in Northern Ireland; notes with concern that the growth in holiday homes and short-term lets is contributing to rising house prices, reduces the availability of affordable housing and threatens the social fabric of many communities; and calls on the Executive to, as a matter of urgency, bring forward proposals to address the impact of holiday homes and short-term lets in areas where they are having a negative effect.

The Business Committee has agreed to allow up to one hour and 30 minutes for the debate. The proposer of the motion will have 10 minutes to propose and 10 minutes to make a winding-up speech. All other Members who speak will have five minutes. Cara, please open the debate on the motion.

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am raising this issue in the House yet again, and, if I am to be frank, I am sick, sore and tired of doing so. It is an issue that rightfully angers so many of my constituents. The rising number of second homes is pushing them out of the very towns that they were raised in. There are no children in the streets. There are over 532 second homes in the one small town of Portstewart. That leads not only to a breakdown of community but to so much more. As the SDLP has stated many times in the Chamber, we are in a housing crisis and a housing emergency, yet we are forced to repeat the conversation yet again today.

The challenge to secure housing for all is incredibly complex. There are onerous planning regulations; there is a lack of adequate sewage infrastructure; there is a lack of security in private rentals; there are rising rents; and, of course, there is a failure to build social housing at the pace that is so desperately needed. For those who do not have a home of their own or a secure and sustainable tenancy, the problem is acute and painful, but that problem bleeds into every single aspect of their life and impacts on entire families.

I recently spoke in my office with the Portstewart Community Association. That group has made it incredibly clear that the lack of housing and the explosion of second homeownership in our Constituency, particularly at the north coast, is leading to the unravelling of community life and of the sense of community as we know it. People from the north coast in particular — people who grew up there; people whom I know who were schooled there; and people who have roots and connections there dating back decades and generations — are increasingly being forced to make lives elsewhere when they do not want to. It is not fair, and it is not right. It is ruining the very fabric of our towns and villages. Our towns are literally dying. We need the Executive to listen to us. We have empty streets with no children in them, and we have empty houses with no people in them. It really is killing our sense of community.

The failure to build homes, and the failure of the Communities Minister to monitor or regulate second homes, are huge failures. The knock-on impact of a lack of available housing is displacement, emigration and despair for the thousands who, sadly, find themselves reduced to a life of sofa-surfing. Just last week, I helped an elderly man in his 70s who is homeless. It was devastating to see the situation — probably, one of the worst cases that I have had as an MLA — and heartbreaking to witness at first-hand the way that he has to live each and every day without a sense of security. It speaks to the failure that we have in the North of Ireland to address the housing crisis. It has led to the separation of families, a brain drain and economic decline in our communities, and schools have faced challenges as a result of the lack of available housing, which is particularly driven by second homeownership.

On the north coast, our once-thriving nightclubs languish as students from the west and beyond are forced into a life of commuting. We have seen a change in how students live: fewer are coming to live in the Coleraine/Portstewart area. Cultural institutions are struggling for numbers, while thousands of locals live in misery as they compete with hundreds to rent a property. This week, I heard of a young family who applied for over 100 houses in the north coast area, were unsuccessful in securing one and now have to live in Ballycastle. That speaks to the severity of the issue.

The proliferation of second homes is a problem that must be faced down if we are to make meaningful progress on the problem. As I said in an Adjournment Debate here months ago, the reality of the industry being left unchecked is fragmented communities, soaring house prices, and villages and towns, such as those in my constituency, being left desolate in the off-season as homes sit unoccupied. I urge the Minister for Communities and the wider Executive to, please, grasp the severity of this — grasp the nettle — and take action to remedy this genuinely horrific state of affairs. Each and every day, I speak with families who are homeless, who are sofa-surfing, whose children cannot bring friends over after school and who are living in their parents' living rooms. It is devastating. The home is the foundation on which you build your life, your stability and your sense of security. Without homes, people struggle severely.

We need to find solutions. Ahead of today, I conducted some research into how other places are dealing with the issue. In Wales, local councils have been empowered to introduce planning rules to limit new second homes and apply higher council tax premiums where they hollow out local communities similar to ours. In Cornwall, new housing developments can now be reserved for people who live there all year round. In France, they have gone further and allow towns where second homes exceed 20% of housing stock to zone land for primary residents only. In Spain, such cities as Malaga and Seville have begun freezing new short-term rental licences to keep homes for local families to avoid pushing them out.

I thank my colleague Claire Sugden — I hope that she feels better. She, too, is passionate about this topic and, as I have done, has met constituents who are living through the most horrific circumstances. Each of the places across Europe that I have mentioned have recognised the same truth that we now must face here in Northern Ireland: unrestrained second homeownership and unchecked short-term letting are not benign byproducts of tourism. They are drivers of housing insecurity and social decline in our communities. As the SDLP MLA for East Derry, I know that it is important to keep pushing the issue again and again in the House. I cannot reiterate enough the need for data and the need to monitor the issue. Constituents feel that they are not being listened to. So much more could be done. It is vital that the Executive fight for local communities and the people whose families have lived in our towns for generations and protect their right to live and work in the place in which they grew up and call home.

Sustainable, affordable and year-round vibrant communities must be achievable across all our rural, coastal and urban communities. The reality is this: our schools, businesses, services and communities cannot exist without people.

Therefore, we all have a duty to ensure that all people have the opportunity to live, work and make a life for themselves in their local area and community.

I thank the Members who tabled the motion, which is similar to one that we debated in May 2024. It acknowledges specific concerns about certain coastal towns and scenic areas, such as the Causeway Coast and Glens area and the Mourne Mountains, and our city centres. The motion notes the growth of unregulated short-term and holiday lets, which, due to rising house prices, risks eroding the very existence of our local communities who make those areas so special. Further to that, as a Derry MLA, I express my deep-rooted concerns about the general lack of delivery of social and affordable housing.

In our Constituency offices, we all have a significant number of daily interactions about the lack of suitable social and affordable housing for struggling renters, students, workers and families. Whilst we are making headway on economic development plans, including investing in our universities and the economy, there are still significant questions about the status of the Housing Executive's revitalisation and how, practically, we are going to deliver the targets laid out in the housing supply strategy, which runs until 2039. Balanced regulation can work, and tourism and community can coexist; however, that is only deliverable if social and affordable housing is delivered at scale to meet the level of existing need and if we place sustainability before short-term gain.

With nearly 50,000 households on our social housing waiting list as of March this year, which is the highest total number of applicants since 2010, I cannot emphasise this point enough: we have a moral responsibility to make housing accessible and affordable for all. A lack of affordable housing affects not just individuals but entire communities. Businesses cannot attract and maintain workers, schools lose pupils and staff, hospitals lose key workers, and whole communities become unstable and unsustainable.

As an MLA for Foyle, I emphasise that, whilst we are immensely proud of the history and culture of the area, from the Bogside to the Waterside, we are equally angry about the sight of boarded-up homes and the reality of rising rents and house prices when families are desperately calling out for support to find suitable, affordable and sustainable places to call "home".

Across Ireland, we do not lack space, nor do we lack heart; however, housing policy and investment are not keeping pace with people's needs. We need more investment now, in social and affordable homes. We need genuinely collaborative partnership working across our councils, housing associations, the Housing Executive and our communities. We need balanced regulation and common-sense approaches to tourism and investment as interconnected drivers of economic growth.

Additionally, we urgently need to see the delivery of social and affordable housing at scale, the prioritisation of community wealth building and regeneration projects and, fundamentally, the eradication of poverty and homelessness once and for all.

I rise to speak not just about housing but about the future of rural Northern Ireland and whether we will act or continue to manage decline with half measures.

On the north coast, in areas such as Portstewart, Portrush, Ballycastle, Portballintrae and beyond, even into the town of Coleraine, the sharp edge of our housing crisis is being driven by the unchecked growth of second homes and short-term lets. Since 2013, house prices in the Causeway Coast and Glens area have surged by almost 70% while wages have barely moved. The price of an average home now sits at about £245,000, and over 85% of properties are out of reach for the median earner. That is not a market: it is a locked door to local families, young people and key workers.

Will the Member give way?

Yes.

I entirely agree with the Member. Does he agree that the problem is not only second homeownership but those who have a portfolio of family homes that they have turned into Airbnbs? We need not only a low cap but a sufficiently punitive sanction for those who refuse to register.

The Member has an extra minute.

The Member raises a very valid point. There is a proliferation of Airbnbs in coastal areas. People find it more profitable to have Airbnbs instead of permanent rental people in their houses. It is a massive problem that needs to be addressed along with the rest.

Behind the postcards and summer football on the north coast, communities are hollowing out. Streets that once echoed with school runs and neighbourly chat now fall silent for months. Shops, GP practices and bus routes struggle when year-round residents are displaced by properties that lie empty for most of the year or churn over with short-term visitors every weekend. We are building a visitor economy without residents to make it liveable. When people look at the social housing safety net, they find threads. Nearly 4,000 people in our area are on the waiting list. Over 2,000 are in housing stress, yet we are delivering roughly 52 social homes a year. That is not a strategy; it is a managed scarcity. This is about more than roofs and rents; it is about the character and cohesion of our coastal towns. High concentrations of short-term lets mean transient occupation and constant turnover. Neighbourhoods do not have time to become communities. Local schools lose pupils, clubs lose volunteers and the fabric frays. Noise, litter and poorly maintained properties follow when regulation fails, deterring the very visitors who value the north coast for its clean, peaceful environment.

The economic picture is no less stark. Economic inactivity remains stubbornly high, and too many of the jobs that we are creating on the north coast are low wage and seasonal. If we want a resilient economy, we cannot push the workforce out of the places where work should grow. I see no effect of the Executive's regional balance. I see no investment in employment opportunities, higher education or equitable healthcare. To me, it seems like, "Let's look at what Coleraine and the Causeway coast have so that we can move it here, there or anywhere", rather than investing in what is already there and working well.

So what must we do? First, we need to introduce robust planning controls where second homes and short-term lets are harming community cohesion. That means a primary residence test in pressured areas; a distinct change of use class for short-term lets so that councils can set caps; a licensing regime with real enforcement; and the power to levy council tax surcharges on homes that are kept empty for most of the year. Secondly, we need to prioritise building truly affordable and social homes where demand is greatest; set binding targets for the north coast and fund them; use public land proactively; and tie planning approvals for new developments to local occupancy and affordability conditions that actually bite. Thirdly, we need to rebalance our economy; bring public-sector and high-quality remote jobs to Coleraine and East Londonderry; invest in digital infrastructure, transport links and childcare so that people can get to work and stay in work; invest in equitable healthcare and job creation; and make sure that training aligns with year-round sectors such as advanced manufacturing, green energy, health and social care, not just summer tourism. Finally, we need to back communities to lead and give councils the data, tools and discretion to act street by street if needed and support residents' groups that are holding their places together.

Without urgent Intervention, we risk becoming a postcard economy: beautiful to visit, impossible to live in. Let us choose better. Let us invest in people and not just in visitor numbers. Let us deliver housing justice and economic dignity on the north coast and ensure that our towns are living communities 12 months of the year. I support the motion.

As an MLA for North Antrim, I have the privilege of representing communities that take in much of our north coast. I was delighted to hear Ms Hunter referencing Ballycastle. It is just a wee nod that the north coast does not stop on the road out of Portballintrae; it goes right the way around. What unites those places is not just their beauty; it is their popularity. From Bushmills to Ballycastle and Cushendun to Portballintrae, the balance between tourism and community is vulnerable to tipping too far.

The motion goes right to the core of what I see as mattering most to me in my job. It is about maintaining those thriving, sustainable communities where our local shops, local schools and services flourish by being able to depend on people to live and work locally all year round. It is a common issue right across the coast, and there is now an urgency about it. I thank the proposer of the motion for bringing it once again to the House.

What once was a housing crisis is now a real threat to the very sustenance of our rural and coastal communities. I see that every day for myself as I drive around and when I am driving home. I see the darkened rows of houses that sit empty through the week and especially through the winter. Our high streets quieten as soon as the tourists leave, and the schools struggle to keep their doors open. Barnish Primary School in Carey closed because families have had to move away. I hear about the situation so often in my surgeries, particularly in what I call the north of North Antrim, which is situated in the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council area. People there have told me that they cannot find homes that they can afford. What once was a real concern about housing affordability has turned into a community crisis. The proliferation of second homes and short-term rentals is absolutely reshaping our coast and our rural way of life.

The Department for Communities says that 13% of the homes in the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council area have no usual residents. That is more than double the Northern Ireland average of around 6%, and, in some coastal settlements, it is far higher. The council has told us that in Portballintrae, which straddles the two constituencies, between 45% and 51% of properties are second homes. When you go canvassing and walk past those homes, you will knock six doors before you come across someone who lives in the house full-time. Those are extraordinary figures for any community that is trying to sustain schools, services and civic life.

On top of that, there is a striking disparity because Causeway Coast and Glens has both the lowest average wage and the highest average house price in Northern Ireland. That tells its own story. Local people are being priced out while homes sit dark for most of the year, once the summer sun sets. I have spoken to constituents who have had to move to Ballymena, Ballymoney or Coleraine just to find somewhere that is affordable to buy. The knock-on effects of that are so significant, particularly with childcare pressures, longer commutes and families who are growing up without the close network of grandparents and family members nearby. As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child, but so many people on the north coast are losing that village life.

For those who are unable to buy, the picture is no better. Between 2018 and 2023, private rents in Causeway Coast and Glens increased faster than in any other council area in Northern Ireland. When landlords can earn several times more from a short-term let, the incentive to remove properties from the long-term rental market is clear, and it is devastating. Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council has also said that 40% of all certified self-catering accommodation units in Northern Ireland are registered in the Causeway Coast and Glens area. As has been mentioned before, those are just the ones that are properly registered. Anecdotally, many of us know about countless others that are operating informally throughout the wider north coast area and are not properly registered.

We need better data and transparency and a public register of short-term lets and second homes, as is the case in Scotland and Wales. We need to empower our councils, and we need to be able to designate short-term let control areas or to introduce new planning use for short-term lets and second homes. We need rates reform, like Wales and Scotland. We should explore a fair premium on non-primary residences, with revenue being reinvested in affordable housing or for waste infrastructure in order to allow new homes to be built. That has to be an Executive-wide plan. Housing should not be a privilege that is dictated by economic disparity; rather, it should be a basic right and the foundation of every thriving, sustainable community.

I welcome the opportunity to speak to the motion, which highlights the growing impact of second and holiday homes on our rural and coastal communities, particularly along the north coast.

The motion recognises the impact of holiday homes and short-term lets on local communities. That recognition is important. There are 549 registered self-catering properties in Portrush, and, as has been mentioned, there are a further 532 such properties in Portstewart. Those figures from Tourism NI show the extent to which the market has become concentrated in a small area. The effect of that on local housing availability is significant. When hundreds of homes are occupied only part of the year, that drives up prices and reduces supply for those who wish to live and work locally. The result is that many young people, who would once have started families or built careers in those towns, are now forced to look elsewhere. The consequences of that can be seen clearly on the ground. In the off-season, streets fall silent, and communities that were once thriving year-round are left with fewer permanent residents.

Local schools such as Mill Strand Integrated Primary School and Nursery and Hezlett Primary School have seen their enrolments decline as young families have moved away. This is not simply a housing issue; it is about the long-term sustainability of our communities and the services that support them.

The motion rightly expresses concern about rising house prices and the availability of affordable housing. However, our response must be based on data, not assumptions. The Department for Communities has confirmed that around 6% of homes across Northern Ireland have no usual residents. In the Causeway Coast and Glens area, however, that figure, as Sian said, is 13%. That includes vacant, renovated and holiday homes, but we still do not know precisely how many of those are genuine second properties. We also need to acknowledge that our wider housing challenge runs deeper that this one issue. The shortage of affordable and social housing has persisted for far too long. Placing the blame solely on the tourism sector will not resolve that. The problem is far more complex and demands long-term investment in new and affordable housing stock.

The motion warns that the issue threatens the social fabric of communities. That is true, but we must not overlook the fact that tourism — the self-catering sector in particular — supports thousands of jobs and businesses across Northern Ireland. The challenge, therefore, is to find balance and protect community life whilst sustaining livelihoods.

The motion calls on the Executive to bring forward proposals to address the impacts. I support that call, provided that the proposals are targeted, proportionate and informed by reliable data.

The Ulster Unionist Party believes in empowering local authorities to manage concentrations of holiday homes through their local development plans, in line with the Executive's housing supply strategy. We must avoid blunt, one-size-fits-all restrictions that could damage our tourism economy. The motion focuses too much on absolutes and lacks the balance that our communities deserve. Holiday homes and short-term lets are not inherently negative, but, without effective regulation, they can become problematic, and we have heard good examples of that this evening. We need policies that safeguard local families, ensure that housing remains affordable and support tourism — an industry that so many rely on.

The Ulster Unionist Party supports the motion.

Housing stress and housing pressure are felt across the North. We have heard a lot about Derry and the north coast this evening, but those pressures are also prevalent in South Down. Due to the increasing demand for housing in our rural and coastal communities, it is a harsh reality that young people and families across South Down are being locked out of owning a home or living in the community in which they grew up.

South Down is an area of outstanding natural beauty, and we are so lucky to have the stunning Lecale coastline, the iconic Mountains of Mourne, seaside towns such as Newcastle and idyllic villages such as Dundrum, Ardglass and Killough. That makes the area an attractive location to go to for days trips and short holidays or even to relocate to permanently. The reality, however, is that that puts the available housing stock in the area under more and more pressure due to an increase in demand.

More and more people face housing pressure, whether that is due to the lack of housing in general, the rising cost of rent, limited access to the market or the increase in the number of short-term lets and holiday homes. The housing crisis is, as has been said, complex. It is multifaceted, but it is spiralling out of control. The crux of the challenge continues to be about ensuring the availability and affordability of housing alongside providing adequate support to tackle poverty and help low-income households. The housing crisis will not, however, be solved by tackling one aspect of the problem alone. We need to see cross-cutting action that will make a real impact in addressing rising housing pressure.

Rural communities across South Down need to be able to access affordable and social housing. As of June 2025, there were 3,994 people on the social housing waiting list. Of those, 3,355 were experiencing housing stress. We need to be creative. We need solutions to develop affordable and social homes in areas such as Newcastle, Downpatrick, Castlewellan and across South Down and, indeed, the North. I have been working recently with Clanmil on the transformation of the old Downe Hospital site into much-needed family homes in the heart of Downpatrick. We need to see more of that creative thinking. Working with housing organisations and other groups is key to building more affordable social housing. It is vital that families and young people are not locked out of the opportunity to live in the communities in which they grew up. Safeguarding future generations is key to protecting the fabric of our rural, coastal and small communities. The Communities Minister should, as a priority, work at pace to deliver more social and affordable housing.

I am pleased to speak on the impact of holiday homes and short-term lets in our coastal regions. I will focus on the unique circumstances facing our north coast, including the Causeway coast and surrounding villages, where the growth in the number of second homes and short-term holiday lets is certainly one factor that is impacting on housing access. Some go further and say that it impacts on the fabric of the towns and villages in that area. In the north coast area and across the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council area, data from coastal villages such as Portballintrae and Cushendun indicates that second homes and short-term lets are becoming a dominant part of the housing stock. According to a report by Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, up to half of the properties in Portballintrae are estimated to be second homes. The same report estimates that roughly 31% of houses in Cushendun are being used as holiday lets.

For Northern Ireland as a whole, the legislation remains unchanged. A change from a permanent dwelling to a second home or a short-term let does not require planning permission. In some of our most beautiful coastal villages, a substantial fraction of the housing stock is being removed either wholly or part-time from the permanent residential stock and, instead, used for seasonal second homes, holiday lets or non-resident ownership.

Those of us who represent the area will have heard how young adults who work locally in hospitality, tourism and retail increasingly struggle to find accommodation in the locality in which they grew up. We have heard of families who might have expected to buy a modest home being priced out, as demand is driven not by local need but by holiday-home demand or investment return from short-term lets. We have heard of the long-term rental sector being squeezed. Some houses that were once available for year-round rent are being moved into the holiday market where yields are higher, or the owners prefer to use them for themselves.

If homes are vacant for much of the year and used not by full-time residents but by holidaymakers, the fabric of a village or coastal resort can be impacted negatively. As has been said, schools, youth clubs, sports clubs and local shops all depend on a stable population. When many homes become seasonal, the viability of local services can decline. Indeed, minutes of Causeway Coast planning meetings record concern from councillors that the inability of young people to secure housing in rural areas is impacting on local settlement patterns, schools and sports clubs. A home —.

I thank the Member for giving way. I agree with what he says. We have seen rural local schools come under threat because there are not enough children in the area to keep them viable. Does the Member agree that it would be prudent for our councils to consider, as part of their local development plans, limiting the number of short-term lets and Airbnb rentals, for instance, so that families can live in the area?

The Member has an extra minute.

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council is actively considering that.

A home that lies empty for months or that is occupied only for transient stays does not support the community ties that a long-term resident does. While tourism is vital, we must guard against creating a situation in which the only people who can live permanently in the area are those of significant means, thereby skewing the character of the place and potentially undermining the local workforce.

A number of factors add to the issue. The cost-of-living crisis has increased pressure on housing, and there is the need for affordable new-build homes. Rural and coastal communities in East Londonderry already face demographic and economic challenges, including the outward migration of younger people and their distance from major employment centres. The packaging of holiday homes as holiday lets adds another barrier to those seeking to live and work locally.

On the north coast, which is an area of outstanding natural beauty and tourism importance but also a place where people live all year round and raise families, it is said that the balance has tipped much too far. The beauty of the north coast — somewhere that I am incredibly proud to call "home" — the shopping towns nearby, the golf courses and the beaches all attract investors and holidaymakers, but what is attractive to an outsider for a week's stay also makes the property less accessible to a local, living-wage earner who is seeking a home. As one councillor noted in the minutes of a planning committee meeting in Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council three years ago, the issue is the inability of young people to secure housing and the impact on settlements, schools and sports clubs.

Some might argue that motions such as this are anti-tourism, but they are far from it. Our tourism offer is one of our greatest assets, but tourism cannot become the sole driver of the housing market. Otherwise, we will lose balanced, liveable areas and restrict who can afford to live and work here. The growth of holiday homes and short-term lets on the north coast is having a real and material impact on housing affordability, the availability of homes for local resident families and workers and the sustainability of community life in the villages and towns in that part of Northern Ireland. The evidence is becoming clearer, and the local voices on the north coast are growing louder. We must listen to those voices.

I thank Ms Hunter and the Opposition for tabling the motion.

The issue is certainly raised with me in my office regularly. I am lucky that South Down is a brilliant part of Northern Ireland, as Mrs Mason has already pointed out. Colin McGrath will no doubt get in there too. It is famously a place where the Mourne Mountains swoop down to the sea, and it boasts wonderful beaches, forests and the peaks and crags of the hills. It is easy to understand why people wish to visit the area, and, accordingly, they need somewhere to stay. The tourism industry is making important economic contributions to the area, and there can be no doubt about that. All that is positive, within reason. However, increasingly, the balance is tipping the wrong way. I hear from constituents who want to live in the area but have been completely priced out of doing so in towns such as Newcastle and villages such as Dundrum and Bryansford. Young couples soon to be married are not able to move to an area that is geographically central to their family and their work, and parents express concern that their children will not be able to afford a property in the area in which they grew up. It is as much about economic growth as anything else.

At this stage, I thank the Minister — the Minister is not here; I will need to rejig my notes. I acknowledge that the motion calls on the whole Executive, so there must be various messages to various Ministers. I have also heard from constituents who find that, at times, every other house in a development is rarely occupied. Indeed, at this time of the year, when the clocks have changed, that is certainly a bit more prominent, and there is many an evening when many a house is unlit. Again, that really contributes to the sense of community detachment. Likewise, some properties are occupied for mere weeks of the year.

Tourism NI statistics show that the number of self-catering units in the Newry, Mourne and Down District Council area has increased by almost 50% in two years, from 414 in 2022 to 619 in 2024. At times, that presents a difficult conundrum for tourist areas to grapple with. Yes, they understand the need to accommodate visitors and the economic benefits that come with that, but they also feel that the balance is not always fairly struck at the minute. Some of the previous contributors referenced that.

Will the Member give way?

Certainly, Mr Brooks.

Will the Member agree that one of the problems with short-term lets is that they also undercut some of the legitimate tourism businesses, which are subject to much more regulation and greater checks? I was at the event upstairs yesterday to do with electrical checks and regulations. They were talking about how private houses have to have many more checks than some of the short-term lets. Our hotels and so on also face that situation. Does the Member agree?

The Member has an extra minute.

I certainly do, yes. One bit of feedback that we get is about that undercutting and the lack of regulation. The bona fide tourist operators have really well-cared-for and safe properties. The Member referenced the electrical checks. That is something to bear in mind.

The motion calls on the whole Executive and for good reason. It is a complex, cross-departmental issue, and Ministers need to work together to find a sustainable way forward. I have a couple of thoughts on that. One of the moves should be towards diversification and sustainability.

Towards the end of the summer, the National Trust held a symposium on sustainable tourism. One of the strongest themes to come out of that was that there is a need to ensure that communities are supported and sustainable. If we get it right for the community, we will get it right for the tourists; if there is no community, tourism will not survive.

Mr Bradley quite rightly pointed out that other economic drivers can be utilised to drive sustainability in housing and get people into the area. One driver that I can think of is the offshore renewable sector, as represented in Kilkeel in South Down. If it is supported, that sector could develop, meaning that companies would keep and offer well-paid jobs in South Down rather than further afield. Therefore, although I appreciate the sentiment of the motion, which is very much about tourism and second homes, wider economic development can go some way towards easing the pressure and ensuring that young families can stay in their locale.

The fact that we need stronger regulation and a stronger planning response to short-term lets was touched on. The current situation is putting unsustainable pressures on housing in certain parts of the country, and we cannot let that continue. Councils have a role to play, but so do the Communities Minister, the Infrastructure Minister and the Economy Minister, and we are yet to see decisive action from some of those Departments. The Infrastructure Minister has stated that she has no plans to restrict the conversion of residential properties into short-term holiday lets but that she is open to looking at the issue under the planning improvement programme. We encourage her to do that. I hope, too, that the Finance Minister will have another look at the rates response and see what can be done from that angle. There are areas such as the Lake District in Cumbria — Ms Hunter referenced some others — that have utilised that tool to offset the broader socio-economic costs for an area that is facing this issue.

Ultimately, we can all agree that we cannot elevate the needs of the tourism industry above the basic needs of the people whom we serve, and there are few needs more basic than a safe and stable home. I urge all parties to do their best to support this issue.

I call Colin McGrath to wind. Colin, you have up to 10 minutes.

Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker.

What a vicious and nasty arena this room can be, but is it not a pleasure that we have just got through a debate in which we all agreed on something and that we are trying to put our thoughts in the right place to help those who elected us to be here? The debate has managed to restore a bit of faith in what we can do when we discuss things that we agree on and scope out whether we can pitch something to Ministers to see whether there is a way in which we can influence them to change the policies that will guide our constituents and, hopefully, help people as they face some of the problems that have been so eloquently expressed by Members this evening.

To take a positive from the debate, it has been a great tour around Northern Ireland in which we heard people talk about their areas, putting forward the beauty of the north coast or of Fermanagh, for example, and we will not forget the cities: Belfast, Derry and the other places that were referenced. Of course, I will not get through my contribution without mentioning South Down and joining my colleagues in highlighting the beauty that is there. We would be naive not to realise that with that beauty, and with our wish to have places where people want to be, comes the problem of people taking up and occupying properties by purchasing them but, in whatever way it may be, not using them. That erodes the sense of community.

It is the role of the person who is winding up the debate to reflect on the remarks that were made in it. It is interesting that, probably to a T, everybody mentioned the same things. We mentioned the fact that the important thing for an area is a sense of community. Community is not the bricks and mortar but the people who live in it: people who come together and become part of local sporting clubs, go to local schools and shop in local shops. For them to do that, however, they need to be in that community regularly. There is no easier way of being a positive advocate for an area than to actually live there and use the local facilities. It is clear that people will miss those things once they are gone. By that stage, it is too late, but, often, that is when you realise that things have been taken away.

Will the Member give way?

Of course I will, Kellie.

I am not standing up to talk about the wonderful Strangford and my Ards peninsula. The Member talked about services being taken away. Quite a lot of Members here live in rural areas, and we know the impact of there not being a local community: it means losing the school and the Post Office, the banks disappearing and the local shops going down to the size of a corner store. That drives tourism away. If there is no community, we do away with tourism as well, and we may as well have those bushes blowing past.

Tumbleweed.

It becomes an empty town. Does the Member agree that we threaten community life by taking people away, because services then come away?

I am not going to discuss pilfering in great detail, but, given that the Member's Constituency has stolen part of our constituency, I am bound to say that great swathes of Strangford are absolutely beautiful. I know many of those areas, because I was born and raised and went to school in a part that is now moving over into her constituency. The Member's point is well made. It is about how acutely that difference is noticed. It can take longer in a city to notice that those sorts of services are being eroded. That does not mean that you do not notice it. However, especially in rural communities, as anyone who you speak to about them will tell you, it is the people who make the area. It is about knowing who is going to be in the local shops and going about their daily business in those areas.

I acknowledge the point — I do not think it was an intentional absence — in Diana's remarks on behalf of the Ulster Unionists. We get that point; we get that it is a balance. You cannot exist without tourism. We all need it. It supports a massive industry, and, in some areas, probably the biggest industry. It was really good to see so many Members contributing by saying that it is about getting the balance right and making sure that we do not tip over into having too many people removed from an area, because it all becomes too tourist-focused. Likewise, you have to have those tourists. In places in my constituency such as Newcastle, Warrenpoint and others, we know about the importance of tourism, because of the money that it brings in and the jobs that it supports and how that supports the community that we are talking about trying to support. Diana referred to balance, but everybody, I think, took the opportunity to refer to the balance that is needed.

In acknowledging that there is a problem, which is probably most felt in the north coast area, a number of Members referenced the importance of not reinventing the wheel. Scotland, Wales, France and other places that were referenced face these problems. They are having to get to grips with that. Some of them are years ahead of us in the problem of over-saturation, but they are also years ahead of us in trying to find the solutions to deal with it. I encourage any departmental officials who might be listening to the debate to scope out other places that have managed the problem and come up with a solution.

Many Members referenced the important point that taking these second properties, Airbnbs and other types of lets out of the housing stock means that there is pressure on the rest of the stock. Business is business. That drives the price of properties up. That means that, for people in our local community who are trying to get on to the housing ladder for the first time in an area close to their families and to that support and community that we all referenced, it becomes increasingly difficult, because house prices are going up to £300,000, £400,000 or £500,000. That prices first-time buyers out of the market. We want to keep that healthy balance that we spoke about, but how can you have that balance if you are needing half a million pounds to buy a house? You just cannot do it. Even MLAs could not afford that, although many people out there think that we can afford anything.

I appreciate everyone's support for the motion. It is great to see that we have that commonality. Our phrasing did not include reference to a Minister. We wanted to call on the whole Executive, because it is a cross-cutting issue that a number of Departments need to look at. The downside of that is that we do not have any Ministers here, but I do not think that that means that there is any lack of interest among the Ministers around the Executive table. They know that the problem is there, and they have the good, solid Back-Benchers from all the parties pushing forward what we want to see. Hopefully, together, we can get a solution that will help the local communities that we all represent.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved:

That this Assembly recognises the impact that holiday homes and short-term lets have on several rural and coastal communities in Northern Ireland; notes with concern that the growth in holiday homes and short-term lets is contributing to rising house prices, reduces the availability of affordable housing and threatens the social fabric of many communities; and calls on the Executive to, as a matter of urgency, bring forward proposals to address the impact of holiday homes and short-term lets in areas where they are having a negative effect.

Motion made: That the Assembly do now adjourn. — [Mr Deputy Speaker (Dr Aiken).]