Great Yarmouth tourism rule forces couple to sell their home

Ann and Stephen Frew bought a five-bedroom house on Trafalgar Road in Great Yarmouth in December 2021.

Their plan was to live there with their daughter and extended family who would care for them, as Mr Frew, 70, is suffering from cancer while his 68-year-old wife has Parkinson's disease. 

But just months after spending £40,000 on renovations, including a new kitchen and accessible bathroom, they received a letter from Great Yarmouth Borough Council.

It was an enforcement notice informing the couple they did not have planning permission for the residential use of the property as it is located in an area protected by the borough's so-called GY6 policy.

This restricts the change-of use from tourist accommodation to non-tourist uses, in order to protect the local tourism economy.

Great Yarmouth Town Hall. (Image: Great Yarmouth Borough Council) READ MORE: Woman appeals against council's refusal to convert guesthouse

Ever since learning of the policy, the couple has been stranded in "absolute limbo".

"We were completely blindsided," Ms Frew says. "The enforcement notice threw our world and what we wanted to do completely."

She maintains they did not know their house was covered by GY6.

"I wouldn’t want anybody to think we bought the place to pull a fast one and live in it instead of running a business.

"During the conveyancing process, the solicitors went through everything they should have done but the searches had nothing about a planning restriction on the property. 

"And you rely on the information from your searches," she says. 

After receiving the enforcement notice, the Frews submitted a retrospective planning application to the borough council to change the use of the property to residential.

The council refused their application over concerns about the loss of tourist accommodation.

The couple then appealed the decision to the planning inspectorate - but their case was dismissed for the same reason. 

The inspector said the proposal would result in "the unjustified loss of holiday accommodation".

READ MORE: Asylum seekers not allowed to be housed in Yarmouth hotels

But Ms Frew says the policy is outdated, pointing out that four guesthouses on the same street are up for sale. 

"The council says each guesthouse generates £87,000 per year into the local economy. But if this is such a flourishing business, why are they all up for sale?

"It needs to be known there is a much wider picture, not everything should focus solely on tourism."

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Now forced to sell their home, the couple feels trapped.

"We’re in absolute limbo," Ms Frew says. 

"When we lost the appeal we knew the only option was to sell."

Their house is on the market for £250,000.

"We’re sitting on a £250,000 house which in reality is our lifetime’s work combined and it’s worthless.

"It’s worthless because somebody will have to come in and buy it as a business at £250,000 and that’s not going to happen."

"What’s happening to us shouldn’t happen to anybody," she adds.

"My husband has been suffering with cancer for the last three years. The last three have been absolutely awful. He is dying. 

"And I have Parkinson’s disease. 

"Without our daughter and family we would never have coped," she says.

A spokesman for Great Yarmouth Borough Council said: ‘’The council empathises with the situation in which Mr and Mrs Frew find themselves.

"However, the policy approach set out in Policy GY6 of the council’s Local Plan of protecting tourist accommodation from change of use to non-tourist uses has been in place for some time and are designed to be an effective way to protect the vital tourism trade for the local economy.’’

Great Yarmouth seafront, where the change of use from holiday to residential accommodation is restricted by a borough council policy known as GY6. (Image: Archant) What is the GY6 policy?

The GY6 policy in Great Yarmouth is in the council’s Local Plan Part 2 and refers to a designated area along the seafront which seeks preserve key tourist accommodation and support the local tourism economy.

The policy aims to ensure that properties in this zone remain focused on enhancing tourism, such as maintaining hotels for visitors rather than allowing alternative uses. 

Recently, the High Court upheld this policy, when confirming an injunction preventing several hotels within the GY6 zone from being repurposed for the accommodation of asylum seekers.