The rising number of holiday lets is negating the supply of new homes in tourist hotspots.
Analysis by Generation Rent has shown that while 426 new homes were built in the Copeland area of the Lake District in the past three years, 407 existing homes were converted to commercial holiday lets or second homes.
On the Hartland peninsula of the north Devon coast, the equivalent of two-thirds of the supply of new homes was turned into holiday lets.
The figures come as a government consultation into whether holiday lets should require planning consent closes.
