Seaside holiday lets squeeze out long-term renters

The number of long-term lets in seaside towns has crashed as landlords seek to cash in on the staycation boom. According to Rightmove, the Isle of Wight has been affected most, with an 82% fall in the number of homes available compared with the summer of 2019. There are nearly five prospective tenants for each available home. Other places to have suffered a sharp drop in long-term rental homes include Blackpool, Northumberland and Cornwall, where numbers are down more than 70%. In Blackpool, the average rental property is attracting six times as many enquiries from renters as two years ago. The Times (£)