Second homes

Second homes are generally bought for holiday use by wealthy people whose main home is in a city. The holiday homes are generally in rural and seaside areas. In some places this is seen as a good thing - bringing money into the area. In other places its seen as a problem - pushing up prices so local people cannot buy a home and leaving the area half empty outside the holiday season.

In Sweden and Finland about 20% of houses in the late 1990s were second homes. In Spain it was 16%, Italy and Greece both 14%. in 2018-19 there were 772,000 households in England with second homes. In 2023 foreigners bought nearly 40% of houses for sale in Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza. A referendum on banning building new second homes in Switzerland was passed, with the support of 50.6%. In 2016, 83% of voters in St Ives agreed in a referendum that it should be a requirement for new homes to be occupied as the owner’s main residence.

There has long been resentment of second home owners in Wales, and this is partly because of the effect on prices and partly about protecting the Welsh language. About two hundred holiday homes were burned down in the 1980s and 90s. The Welsh government has altered the planning, property and taxation rules to discourage second homes.