MORE than 50,000 new homes are planned for Teignbridge over the next 50 years.

The government says this number is needed to ensure everyone has a home.

There is no doubt that we need more homes that are affordable and green. But the housing crisis is not just down to there not being enough homes, it is far more complex.

The number of second homes laying empty is one major reason so many cannot find a decent home to live in. Some people will have second homes to continuously rent to others.

However, there is a growing number of second homes which are used as holiday homes, or as a place to stay whilst working away from a main home.

Many of these homes are in areas in which locals are priced and pushed out of the housing market. Some estimate there are more than half a million homes which sit empty for large amounts of time.

The housing crisis that has been brewing for decades has been hugely exacerbated in tourist areas by a surge in second homes used for holiday lets.

Foreign travel restrictions have made many of us decide to stay in the UK for holidays.

So called staycations becoming more popular has meant many with second homes have decided to rent them out as holiday homes instead, cashing in on holiday makers means kicking out tenants.

A trend which has been reported in Cornwall recently is the abundance of holiday lets available in the county.

A report by the Guardian revealed Cornwall has more than 10,000 listings on Airbnb, but only 69 rentals on rightmove.

There is a lot of money to be made with holiday lets as demand has risen. Some locals are even forced into paying the inflated prices to live in a holiday home.

Subsidies, incentives and tax breaks made available to second home owners by successive governments have not helped the housing crisis, but worsened it.

The solution to the housing crisis is not as simple as just building more houses. In fact the number of dwellings in the UK has been growing faster than the number of households and there are now more bedrooms per person than ever before.

The problem is the grossly unequal distribution of space. Houses are unaffordable because of the purchasing power of landlords. This is a gross injustice which has been allowed to happen thanks to the policy of successive governments.

We need a progressive property tax, based on value and payable by owners, not tenants.

And second homes should be taxed at a much higher rate. Local authorities should be able to decide how many homes in a village or town should be permanent residences.

Any second home, existing or envisaged, would need planning permission for change of use.

This is not to say second homes should be abolished, many areas rely on holiday lets for the local economy and jobs. But the housing needs of local people should always come first and foremost.