Plockton second homes leaves village facing housing crisis

Twenty or so years ago, according to locals, there would have been two dozen living in its 43 homes.

Around half of the white-washed properties on Harbour Street were empty in January because they are second homes or holiday lets.

Alexander Mackenzie and his son Sorley who is one of only two children living in Harbour Street in Plockton (Image: Gordon Terris/Newsquest)

In the entire village, which lies on a spectacular inlet on Loch Carron, a third are said to have been unoccupied this winter.

Affordable housing is practically non-existent in Plockton, which is known as the Jewel of the Highlands.

Properties on Harbour Street, which can be lined with Ferraris in the Summer on a pit stop from the NC500 road route, can sell for upwards of £450,000, even those requiring substantial upgrades.

Plockton is known as the 'Jewel of the Highland's, which has led to an explosion of holiday lets (Image: Gordon Terris/Newsquest)

A trust was set up by the original, billionaire owners of Duncraig Castle to fund further education for children from the area.

It is currently sitting with around £750,000 in it because there are few young people to take up the offer.

Alexander MacKenzie and his partner Fiona, 39, an opera singer, count themselves very lucky to have acquired a home on Harbour Street, which is quiet on the drizzly February day of The Herald's visit but will be crammed with tourists in a few months time.

Both have ties to the conservation village - Alexander's granny was from Plockton and he attended school here and his wife grew up next door to the house they bought a few years ago.

Her father, Calum, runs boat trips, which generously offer a refund if you don't spot any seals.

"It wasn't derelict but it had been a holiday home for a long time, so it was just knackered," says her 45-year-old partner, who says the money required to renovate such properties is another obstacle for incomers or locals looking for a home.

Alexander Mackenzie says the family were lucky to get a house on Harbour Street for a reasonable price (Image: Gordon Terris/Newsquest)

Some are practically uninhabitable in the winter so aren't suitable for long-term lets. His partner's father is a joiner and "had to take the inside of the house out."

"The people who were selling it were neighbours to Fiona and we heard they were selling it so we wrote them a letter.

"We met them in Edinburgh and agreed a price and we could afford it so we just went for it.

"If we had had to employ someone to do it, we couldn't have afforded it."

The population of Plockton, where popular 1990s TV series Hamish Macbeth was filmed, was around 450 in 2020 and is now said to be less than 350.

"Not so long ago, there were 70 or 80 kids in the primary school, when I was there," says Mr Mackenzie.

 "Most of them would have lived in Plockton but now we have 50 kids and the Gaelic Medium [remit] brings them in from all over including Dornie".

Popular with artists, Plockton is home to a gallery and studio as well as two hotels, a shop, visitor centre and railway station.

The 45-year-old has his own student recruitment business but has started oyster fishing continuing a long-held tradition in Plockton and hopes that could become his main line of work.

While there are more families in social housing in the Burnside area, he says the high number of holiday lets and lack of affordable homes has eroded the sense of community. 

"Every blade of grass is owned by the National Trust and governed by crofting laws and so, despite the fact we are surrounded by empty space you can't do anything," he says.

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Leaning over his impressive stone wall, Saltire blowing in the wind and 'Not my King' posters displayed on his shed windows, Peter Mackenzie (no relation to Alexander), is quite happy to nail his political colours to the mast.

The SNP need not worry about dwindling support here - he reckons the party has the support of around 70% of locals.

Peter Mackenzie says radical changes are needed to avert Plockton's housing crisis (Image: Gordon Terris/Newsquest)

The former oil and gas worker who now chairs Plockton Community Cuncil says only radical changes "that don't affect local people" are needed to avert further depopulation in areas like Plockton, ideally under independence with full control over housing and land.

He spent a lot of time living in Denmark and Norway and favours their high-taxation model.

"They pay 50% of tax yet they don't want to leave their country," he says. "There's no poverty, no potholes, the garbage gets picked up every week.

"There is zero benefit coming from this dis-united Kingdom."

Mr Mackenzie owns a couple of other properties himself but he believes the doubling of council tax second homeowners does not go far enough and should be "quintupled". He mentions one property that he says has been empty for a full two years.

He says the new owners of Duncraig Castle were upfront with locals about their intention to use it as a holiday let but others are not.

"There are lots of people who buy a place on Harbour Street and say they are moving here and it's a lie. They bring in their own tradesmen etc. You drive division very early.

"What I get is this thing about bringing employment to the area but it's bringing nothing but aggravation and very little hope for young people trying to start a life."

He says Achiltibuie, another village of outstanding natural beauty in Ross and Cromarty, has the same issues as Plockton.

"Plockton has always been a tourist village, always will be and it is a beautiful place but it's creaking," he says, mentioning that pupils in the primary have been moved to the secondary school because the roof of the building is leaking.

"I've seen a massive change all over the Highlands since Brexit and I don't think we've seen the worse yet," he says.

"This was a fishing community once. The prawn fishermen are struggling now. Two of the most prominent prawn fishermen came here 50 years ago from the south of England and they contributed hugely to the local area.

"One of them is on the community council. He couldn't afford to come here now." 

There are plans for Plockton to become a short-term let control area, like Badenoch, but he doesn't believe it will have much impact.

"We are supportive as the community council, but it's a paper tiger," says the community councillor.

"If someone bought my house and wanted to turn it into a holiday home, they will need to apply for planning permission.

"Wow, what's that going to do? It won't get refused. you get around three or four extra thousand pounds. I'm not knocking it but the levers aren't there to properly control."

Former district councillor Donald Mackenzie says there are no simple answers (Image: Gordon Terris/Newsquest)

Charlie Macrae, 85, has lived all his life in Plockton in the house he was born in. He was in the community council from its inception 40 years ago before retiring ten years ago.

"The problem of holiday homes goes back to the 1980s when our local councillor went to Edinburgh to ask them to do something about the annual increase in holiday homes.

"They didn’t want to know.

"A scheme like some in the Channel Islands have where you have to have a job would have helped then.

"Presently  six holiday houses are for sale al for about half a million each but will probably be still holiday houses, although sales have slowed."

Donald Mackenzie, who is known as 'Hibs' (his chosen football team) hands me a newspaper cutting dated March 1 1985 when he was interviewed about Plockton's housing shortages.

At the time a member of  Skye and Lochalsh District Council, he makes the case for the council to purchase empty private houses for social rent.

Properties on Harbour Street (he was born at number 28) were selling for around £26,000 at that time but it is unthinkable at today's prices.

Around half of the homes on the main street were empty at that time too but "for different reasons" he says. Far fewer would have bought for the express purpose of using it as a holiday let.

He owns holiday cottages himself and would like to see stricter rules brought in for a grant scheme for small businesses which he says leads to overseas companies buying up properties for short-term lets.

"I don't quite understand it but I think they are entitled to this Scottish small business bonus which I don't think they should be," he says.

"I've spoken to [Highland MSP] Kate Forbes about it but have not had a satisfactory answer."

Mags Pearson runs the Plockton Hotel, which has been in her husband Alan's family for more than 30 years.

"We are fortunate in that this is year 32 in the Pearson family. During the winter it used to be that you didn't see anyone from October to April but I definitely think there are more people visiting outside the season."

She said the Scottish Government's short-term let licensing scheme had led to some  owners putting their properties on the market in Plockton.

"That doesn't solve the housing problem though as they are still outwith budgets locally but they are still rolling out the scheme. Time will tell."