'When Gordon Ramsay bought here it went crazy'

As Cornwall Council prepares to impose a tax raid on second home owners, Alex Ross visits the village of Rock, where the priced-out locals fear the measure doesn’t go far enough...

- Alex Ross

Once a sleepy fishing village on the banks of the Camel estuary, Rock has become one of Cornwall’s most sought-after destinations – and it’s not hard to see why. With its dune-backed sandy beaches, luxury homes and world-renowned restaurants, Rock’s popularity has exploded over the past 20 years, and sohas demand for properties, with the wealthy snapping up second homes to cater for relaxing getaways from the city.

Take a glimpse in the window of the local estate agent, and you’ll be forgiven for believing that last week’s downgrading of UK growth was a dream. The cheapest property, priced at £350,000, is a nondescript two-bedroom lodge marketed as an ideal holiday home. At the other end of the scale, five of 18 homes up for sale have asking prices above £1m. No wonder the village is often dubbed Cornwall’s Saint-Tropez or Kensingtonon-Sea.

Further confirmation is found at a high-street deli called Fee’s, where smartly dressed men discuss financial markets while smart saloon cars are parked outside. Inside, sourdough bread costs £5, a latte £3.60.

Yet more than a quarter of people in Cornwall earn under the real living wage, while around 40 per cent of jobs are part time, according to research by the Cornwall Community Foundation. More than one in five of the working population is “economically inactive”, reports the Office for National Statistics. And herein lies the problem.

“To buy or rent here, you got to be joking haven’t you,” says local Adrian Rickard, who has recently returned to the village to live with his 76-year-old mother. The father-of-two cannot afford to go to many of the pubs and restaurants in the area – the exception being the Rock and District Social Club, where a pint cost members £3.50.