THREE cottages on a farm near Bude that are currently used as holiday lets could be turned into open market dwellings if Cornwall Council approve of the planning application that would facilitate it.

Mr and Mrs Copley have submitted a planning application to change the use of three cottages located in Poughill called Bramblewood Cottage, Blackberry Cottage and Briar Patch Cottage.

The three cottages are located at part of a 14-unit holiday complex at Trevalgas Farm Cottages, Stone Hill, Poughill, and have been owned by the applicants since 2001, 2015 and 2019 respectively.

However, the applicants are seeking to change their use citing a fall in demand amid the post-pandemic holiday landscape.

ADW Architecture Limited in submissions to Cornwall Council on behalf of the couple, said: “The continuing holiday use is unviable and unsustainable and this can be shown from the rental records and income and expenditure and the financial analysis submitted.

“The letting of the units for holiday use are unviable. After careful consideration and research, it is contended that simply making more flexible conditions for occupancy in the letting of the units and, or use as second, or non-primary dwellings will only have a marginal effect on letting income.

“Such developments are out of vogue with modern and current holiday trends; with the increasing popularity of cheap European holiday destinations as well as a significant glut of mid-market holiday lets in the immediate, and also wider regional geographical area, the pressure on rentals is downward whilst costs are increasing.

“The growing popularity of internet based rental sites such as AirBnb, holidaylettings.co.uk etc where the rentals are not regulated also further acts as a further drag on the competitiveness of such a business.

“The properties form part of a larger holiday development. Our client’s business competes with all of these other properties for lettings, and are mid- range holiday properties. It also competes with holiday letting properties in the wider market.

“To increase rentals the owners would likely need to reduce the rental rates to a lower price bracket. This in itself would solve nothing, as letting more weeks at a lower rent does not produce increased profitability or viability.

The site is detached from primary tourism facilities, such as beaches which are not within walking distance, and popular tourist locations and the modern holiday units do not have a unique selling point. It is competing against a glut of similar self-catering accommodation locally, and regionally.

“This is forcing increased discounts to attract guests and more so as the site does not have the convenience of location that many visitors seek, and has to compete with more suitably located developments nearer to established towns and villages and the beaches etc. In addition, by responding to the market needs for shorter breaks, this substantially increases the variable costs and operating overheads such as cleaning, laundry, etc. Every effort has been made by the applicants to increase the business profitability.”

The submissions also detailed why in the view of the applicants, the site should be considered sustainable despite not being in a town or village.

They said that it is located in close proximity to Poughill, Flexbury and Bude and already exists so no physical intervention into the countryside is needed.

It was also revealed that the applicants had been trying to sell the properties for three years using a variety of pitches and agents to no avail, adding that according to local estate agents the market for holiday accommodation units to buy was ‘dormant’.

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The plans can be viewed on the Cornwall Council planning portal using reference PA26/04810.