There are entire villages on Skye, full of good houses, that are dark and desolate ghost towns between October and April. You can walk through them and feel like you're in a post-apocalypse movie. This is because they've all been bought up by affluent southerners to use as holiday homes or to rent on AirBnB. If that's not enough, most of these people then plonk 5 "accommodation pods" in their garden so they can rake in another £5k per week from tourists. Pure, unabashed greed. Meanwhile, local young people can't find or afford a place to live. How can a local couple, probably earning no more than £25k each, compete with Boomers sitting on a million pound in equity from their properties in southern England? There's a new hospital on the island, but they cant staff it because there's nowhere for the staff to live. "Property as an investment" has killed highland communities, and much of rural UK. What needs to happen is: - Massive taxation for people buying a property that will not be their primary place of residence. - Investment in crofting. It's the lifeblood of highland communities and much needed, especially after Brexit. There are a lot of people who still want to do it, but the UK does not make it easy. - Investment in infrastructure. The roads are terrible, it's like driving on the moon. Internet is either rags or riches; some places have great fibre connections, others still use BT copper cable and struggle to get more than 2MB/S download speeds. - Widespread adoption of remote working. This eases pressure on housing markets and stimulates local economies, rather than dragging everything to London/Manchester/Edinburgh. I doubt any of this will happen during my lifetime. Policies and legislation in the UK are still stuck 70 years in the past. We're terrible at acknowledging that it's no longer the 1970s, or envisaging newer, better, different ways of doing things. We're also unbearably slow at infrastructure projects.
I live in the Highlands and it is a lot busier than you are making out. Inverness is the fastest growing city in Europe. Also the drive from Inverness to Thurso is no more than 2 hours, not 3. I'm only 3 minutes in! Internet is really good as well
Land ownership is a tax dodge so the rich buy up huge estates, bumping up the price of land in the UK, including the Highlands. The introduction of inheritance tax on the value of land may help with the expense of land. Probably more important, incomers buy property for holiday/investment, air B&B in particular, which drives out the less affluent locals and without these locals, the economy crumbles. The government has made some clumsy attempts to put this right. But as you mention, the highland clearances,especially in the 19th century, has had lasting effects that are the main reson for current depopulation. By the way, you didn't mention the midgies.
Okay, obviously you do not live here, I on the other hand do, I live on Shetland. Shetland is not dependent on the tourist trade, although it is beneficial. Some of your comments, whilst correct in a general term, are not 100% accurate. I have had next day delivery through Amazon, my internet is fast, My cholesterol is low, since I do not eat McDonald's every day.
Load of tosh,, I keep visiting year after year, the people are real and by that I mean totally awe inspiring..its how we should all live , in the moment and on the land
I am a highlander born and bred and the reason the highlands is empty is simple. After the 1745 Jacobite rebellion, the Highland Clearances were started to ensure there were no further rebellions. This ultimately led to the dismemberment of the clan system and the deportation of a large percentage of the people living in the highlands. As many of these people were crofters, which is a hard life, nobody moved in to replace these people. The land is not suitable for the building of towns or cities, and for the infrastructure required to support them. Plenty of people live in the highlands, but it takes a certain type of person to thrive there, so the population density is low.
looking at the title it's miss leading over 100K people live in that area of Scotland including Inverness with 63K people also known as the capital of the Highlands
Scotland has experienced what nearly every other European country hasn't, population decline and stagnations, with brief spells of population increase. The clearances played a huge part of population decline and the areas you talk about, with the exception of Inverness, generally had higher populations in the 1860s than they do now. The land lord system has been brutal for Scotland.
i moved up 11 years ago, after starting my lejog trip after meeting a local woman in Groats and was suppose to stay 3 months. i see similarities between highlands and cornwall such as fishing farming and tourism. like the highlands many homes have been bought as 2nd homes by the affluent in uk. this has destroyed village life which 2nd home owners wanted to be part off when they came to stay 🤔. some villages have 70% of homes used as 2nd homes and the affluent then wonder why the village life they wanted to experience has vanished. be a real shame if highlands went this way. NC500 is a double edged sword for locals, brings tourists both good and bad. some of the things that bad tourists have done to highlands is beyond belief and has upset many highlanders.
I don't live in the Highlands but have been there- including Skye- walking the mountains Winter and Summer....a wonderful place ...but I am an old timer (77) and sadly not fit enough to go back there...from Ireland...also love much of the music from Julie Fowlis to McKellar...as for the haggis ...tastes fine but smell not great! ..Ae Fond kiss.
What a bull....people lived here for over 5000 years and made dozens of large structures, so they were perfectly able to live her, probably since the ice age. Nice views by the way.
There are entire villages on Skye, full of good houses, that are dark and desolate ghost towns between October and April. You can walk through them and feel like you're in a post-apocalypse movie. This is because they've all been bought up by affluent southerners to use as holiday homes or to rent on AirBnB. If that's not enough, most of these people then plonk 5 "accommodation pods" in their garden so they can rake in another £5k per week from tourists. Pure, unabashed greed.
Meanwhile, local young people can't find or afford a place to live. How can a local couple, probably earning no more than £25k each, compete with Boomers sitting on a million pound in equity from their properties in southern England? There's a new hospital on the island, but they cant staff it because there's nowhere for the staff to live. "Property as an investment" has killed highland communities, and much of rural UK.
What needs to happen is:
- Massive taxation for people buying a property that will not be their primary place of residence.
- Investment in crofting. It's the lifeblood of highland communities and much needed, especially after Brexit. There are a lot of people who still want to do it, but the UK does not make it easy.
- Investment in infrastructure. The roads are terrible, it's like driving on the moon. Internet is either rags or riches; some places have great fibre connections, others still use BT copper cable and struggle to get more than 2MB/S download speeds.
- Widespread adoption of remote working. This eases pressure on housing markets and stimulates local economies, rather than dragging everything to London/Manchester/Edinburgh.
I doubt any of this will happen during my lifetime. Policies and legislation in the UK are still stuck 70 years in the past. We're terrible at acknowledging that it's no longer the 1970s, or envisaging newer, better, different ways of doing things. We're also unbearably slow at infrastructure projects.
Just one question. Who sold the houses to these Southerners?
I live in the Highlands and it is a lot busier than you are making out. Inverness is the fastest growing city in Europe. Also the drive from Inverness to Thurso is no more than 2 hours, not 3. I'm only 3 minutes in! Internet is really good as well
Who are the new residents? Are they Scot’s or they all coming up from England? Or worse are they new arrivals off the boats ?
@@Parker_Douglas it's a mixture of Scots from the central belt and English mainly.
Far from convinced Inverness is the fastest growing city in Europe.
I was born and bred in Scotland, and this video is extremely misleading. It's not impossible to live in the Scottish Highlands at all!
I love in Argyll and is easy to live in Scotland
Try booking a B&B in Skye and you will soon see how quiet it isn’t
Land ownership is a tax dodge so the rich buy up huge estates, bumping up the price of land in the UK, including the Highlands. The introduction of inheritance tax on the value of land may help with the expense of land. Probably more important, incomers buy property for holiday/investment, air B&B in particular, which drives out the less affluent locals and without these locals, the economy crumbles. The government has made some clumsy attempts to put this right. But as you mention, the highland clearances,especially in the 19th century, has had lasting effects that are the main reson for current depopulation.
By the way, you didn't mention the midgies.
What a load of pish.
Okay, obviously you do not live here, I on the other hand do, I live on Shetland. Shetland is not dependent on the tourist trade, although it is beneficial. Some of your comments, whilst correct in a general term, are not 100% accurate. I have had next day delivery through Amazon, my internet is fast, My cholesterol is low, since I do not eat McDonald's every day.
This video is completely wrong.
The statement of this video that no one lives in Northern Scotland is not only completely wrong, but insulting.
It's the second remotest part of Europe. Only a desert in Turkey is more remote.
@@63mckenzie can you tell me a desert in Turkey...
@@spaysipaysi Karapinar Desert.
Not really in Europe.
Hay! he said that less than 250,000 people live in the highlands...
Load of tosh,, I keep visiting year after year, the people are real and by that I mean totally awe inspiring..its how we should all live , in the moment and on the land
Love the applecross pass used as the a9 between thurso and Inverness lol
🤣
I am a highlander born and bred and the reason the highlands is empty is simple. After the 1745 Jacobite rebellion, the Highland Clearances were started to ensure there were no further rebellions. This ultimately led to the dismemberment of the clan system and the deportation of a large percentage of the people living in the highlands. As many of these people were crofters, which is a hard life, nobody moved in to replace these people. The land is not suitable for the building of towns or cities, and for the infrastructure required to support them.
Plenty of people live in the highlands, but it takes a certain type of person to thrive there, so the population density is low.
Judging from you're accent you found out all this information on the internet. Maybe try go there yourself to make a more factual video
Hi from the north of Scotland this is BS
looking at the title it's miss leading over 100K people live in that area of Scotland including Inverness with 63K people also known as the capital of the Highlands
Scotland has experienced what nearly every other European country hasn't, population decline and stagnations, with brief spells of population increase. The clearances played a huge part of population decline and the areas you talk about, with the exception of Inverness, generally had higher populations in the 1860s than they do now. The land lord system has been brutal for Scotland.
Erm.. you got the North sea wrong. What you labeled the north sea is the artic ocean. The north sea is to the east of Scotland.
What a pile of fertiliser!
i moved up 11 years ago, after starting my lejog trip after meeting a local woman in Groats and was suppose to stay 3 months. i see similarities between highlands and cornwall such as fishing farming and tourism. like the highlands many homes have been bought as 2nd homes by the affluent in uk. this has destroyed village life which 2nd home owners wanted to be part off when they came to stay 🤔. some villages have 70% of homes used as 2nd homes and the affluent then wonder why the village life they wanted to experience has vanished. be a real shame if highlands went this way. NC500 is a double edged sword for locals, brings tourists both good and bad. some of the things that bad tourists have done to highlands is beyond belief and has upset many highlanders.
I don't live in the Highlands but have been there- including Skye- walking the mountains Winter and Summer....a wonderful place ...but I am an old timer (77) and sadly not fit enough to go back there...from Ireland...also love much of the music from Julie Fowlis to McKellar...as for the haggis ...tastes fine but smell not great! ..Ae Fond kiss.
One of the worst and most misleading videos about Scotland on the internet. Take it down.
What a bull....people lived here for over 5000 years and made dozens of large structures, so they were perfectly able to live her, probably since the ice age. Nice views by the way.
Click bate 😂😂😂
Wow should I tell my family to leave.
I live here and its great
1:25 rock in sea looks like ailsa Craig pretty much south west Scotland
6:41 is not a midge it’s a mosquito … midge a few seconds later
a lot of subjective proclamations made in your video...
Loads live there. Zzzzzz
Bruh🗿🗿🗿🗿🏃♀️🗝