Estate agents' windows tell a familiar story as autumn creeps up on the north Norfolk coast. Look away now, if you're a local - you can't afford to live here. 

With barely half of all its homes lived in by permanent occupants and a falling, aging population, Burnham Market has become the epitome of lock and leave land.

But as booming demand for second homes and holiday lets sends house prices soaring and young people flee the community in search of cheaper homes, the tide may be turning on this part of the coast.

For on Thursday, villagers get to vote on proposals which will curb the number of second homes and holiday lets.

If more than 50pc support the village's draft neighbourhood plan, new properties will have a principal residence clause imposed, while existing homes will not be allowed to be converted into holiday lets.

Eastern Daily Press: Burnham Market is feted for being one of Norfolk's prettiest villagesBurnham Market is feted for being one of Norfolk's prettiest villages (Image: Ian Burt)Artist Lucy Jacklin, a member of the steering group which drafted the document, believes it is key to the village's survival.

"We're going to lose our community otherwise," she said. "We'll lose the school, we'll lose the village hall, we'll lose the church - we'll lose all our amenities.

"I've got three children and they can't afford to live here, they've all had to move.

"It's just become a cash cow for investors, they're just milking it."

Eastern Daily Press: Booming demand for second homes and holiday lets have driven up house prices in Burnham MarketBooming demand for second homes and holiday lets have driven up house prices in Burnham Market (Image: Chris Bishop)READ MORE: Concerns over growing number of second homes on Norfolk coast

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Burnham Market's population has fallen by more than a fifth in just two decades.

Eastern Daily Press: The village sign at Burnham Market The village sign at Burnham Market (Image: Chris Bishop)

Some 948 people lived in the village at the 2001 census. By the 2021 count, the number had fallen to 724.

Yet the number of properties has increased, along with their price in a village where the average price of a property is now more than £1m according to RightMove, while a modest terrace will set you back upwards of £600,000.

Mrs Jacklin, 63, added: "You need a balance. People don't live here, they don't get involved in the community - well, some of the second homers do but it's the furnished lets, the AirBnBs that are damaging it."

The neighbourhood plan also talks of the need to re-balance the local population, by skewing development in favour of more affordable properties in the hope of stemming the exodus of younger villagers. 

Eastern Daily Press: Around half the properties in Burnham Market are now second homes or holiday letsAround half the properties in Burnham Market are now second homes or holiday lets (Image: Matthew Usher)Parish councillors who drew up the proposed plan were in purdah before Thursday's vote, despite lengthy consultations over the plan's recommendations.

"No-one on the council is allowed to talk about it beforehand," its deputy chairman Peter Borlace said. "It's the electoral authorities' rules."

While the plan reckons 90pc of 500 or so respondents supported the curbs, one of the 10pc who probably did not was parking up near the village green.

"They just want to ban everything these days, don't they," the man said patting the bonnet of his 4x4.

Eastern Daily Press: The notice of referendum for the second homes vote at Burnham MarketThe notice of referendum for the second homes vote at Burnham Market (Image: Chris Bishop)"They want to ban these because they've got diesel engines, ban gas boilers.

"I mean, how are they going to stop you, who's going to keep an eye on it?"

Across the way amid the designer boutiques, antique shops and delis, one shopkeeper said none of her customers had so far mentioned the vote.

"But I know there are probably some strong views about it in the village," she added.

Eastern Daily Press: Architect Jason LawArchitect Jason Law (Image: Chris Bishop)Architect Jason Law, who has designed many properties along the coast, said he was not opposed to the principal residence conditions for new properties because they would help bring the life back into villages.

"They have got to be family homes," he added. "But how do you fight the market?

"Affordable is a badly-used word in my opinion. I think shared ownership is a better option than affordable rented housing.

"It gives you some ownership, it gives you something to take pride in." 

Voting in the referendum will take place at Burnham Market and Norton Village Hall, on Beacon Hill Road on Thursday, September 21 (7am-10pm).