Five new homes proposed for a popular coastal village would not be used as second homes, if given the go-ahead.

Millthorne Developments has applied to demolish a redundant barn off the main A149 coast road at Holme, near Hunstanton.

It has drawn up plans for a two-bedroom property, along with two three-bedroom and two four-bedroom houses on the site on Eastgate.

Planning documents from the developers say the properties will be "principal homes".

Neighbourhood plans being drawn up in some communities, including neighbouring Old Hunstanton and nearby Heacham, stipulate that any new developments should be principal residences, after concerns over the impact of the burgeoning number of second homes and holiday lets.

Around half of the properties in some villages on the Norfolk coast are now holiday rentals, and some areas have been dubbed Airbnb-next-the-Sea.

As well as concerns over the shortage of affordable homes to rent, booming prices force many to leave the villages they grew up in because they can not afford to buy a property in them.

A planning statement for the proposed Holme homes says: "The houses, which will be principal homes, are to be constructed of brick and flint with tiled pitched roofs so as to respect the general rural character of the area.

"The layout is akin to a farmstead that acknowledges the current use of the site but also venerates the established set back from the road arrangement of the built form. Therefore, the development will sit within its own grounds and plot as the existing properties do along Eastgate."

The two four-bedroom houses would both come with a home office. The developer said a room in both of the three-bedroom properties could also be used for working from home.

"The flexibility of use of the rooms is purposely shown as a direct result of the Covid pandemic," the statement adds.

"Working practices have changed and as such so have living environments. The ability to have flexibility without compromising living and family space has proven to be essential particularly in family homes as these are intended and as identified in the neighbourhood plan."

A decision is expected from West Norfolk council next year.