Last week the government's planning advisers said there was little evidence that second homes squeezed out first time buyers. The deputy leader of a council in a second-home hotspot gives his view

Clive Stockton, deputy leader, North Norfolk District Council

: "I think the idea that we need more research is correct in a number of ways. The other point is that we cannot look at this on anything more than a fairly local basis because it has totally different motivation depending on where you are.

"In North Norfolk the bulk of second homes are for leisure, very few people come here for employment. We suffer from coastal squeeze because we have the sea on one side and an area of outstanding natural beauty on the other side so the opportunity to build more property is becoming more limited.

"Because most second home here are for leisure, their use is quite seasonal so they are empty for a large part of the winter.

"There is no definitive research but on a day to day basis our housing officers say that second homes push out first time buyers. We have communities with very limited numbers of houses in total and half are second homes which detracts from the opportunity to buy.

"I think it is probably true that the effect of second homes has not been identified in the regional spatial strategy [which sets out housebuilding numbers] and in places like Norfolk it should be."