A SOUTH Hams MP has accused second home owners of sucking the life out of communities.

In a series of hard-hitting tweets, MP Dr Sarah Wollaston declared the district does not need any more second homes which she claimed can turn local communities into 'ghost towns and villages'.

And she pointed out that too many young people cannot even afford to rent a home in the area let alone buy one. She warned that the level of second home ownership across the district is 'now making life miserable for young people in South Devon'.

Now the MP has asked constituents for ideas on how to provide 'genuinely' affordable housing for young people.

Ivybridge MP Gary Streeter said: 'It is true that second homes can be a negative influence on a community and yet Newton and Noss are still very vibrant communities.

'The real challenge is knowing what public policy can be tweaked to tackle the problem. We live in a free country and do not want to ban people owning a second home.

'I would support increasing council tax for second homes and the income going to the affected community, but that will never stop second homes.'

Ivybridge district councillor Mike Salter said: 'Back in 2009 we did a study on the impact of second home owners.

'The report was balanced but there were clearly a lot of negatives. I think the picture in some areas of the South Hams is very dark.

'Areas such as Salcombe, even though they wouldn't like to be classed as a ghost town, are clearly unsustainable in winter months and it has a significant impact on the area.

'South Hams has the most difficult combination of limited land, low earnings and high rent.

'It is quite a disastrous situation and I have every sympathy with people trying to get on the property ladder.'

Figures showed three years ago that there were 4,162 homes in the South Hams whose owners were claiming a second homes discount. Salcombe had the highest number with 692, with Dartmouth coming in at 628.

The number in Kingsbridge was 186 while Totnes had 101.

Ivybridge only had 15 but parishes like Newton and Noss had 118 and Thurlestone 209.

At the same time house prices in the South Hams have risen to become the highest in the region, while wages still remain well below average.

Last week Dr Wollaston met young people from both Dartmouth and Totnes at Westminster as they spelled out their plight when it comes to renting or buying a home in the district,

At the weekend, the tweeting MP fired off a broadside at second home owners whose houses are left empty most of the year.

She declared: 'We need more affordable homes but we don't need more second homes.'

She added: 'Our economy can benefit from second homes if they are also let out but selfish ghost towns/villages just suck the life out of our communities.'

The MP also pointed out: 'The problem in South Devon is that new developments remain completely unaffordable'. She said that new solutions were needed other than 'mortgage support' which she warned simply inflated house prices.

She added: 'Too many young people can't afford to rent let alone buy in South Devon yet hundreds of properties are empty for 50 weeks of the year.'

And she asked her followers: 'Please tweet your ideas for increasing supply of genuinely affordable housing for young people – not more second homes – in places like South Devon.'

You can follow Dr Wollaston on Twitter @drwollastonmp.