Second Home Owners Are Blamed for Pushing Home Prices Up
Owners of second homes are usually accused to cause the home prices to go up for the local people. This is especially true in many of the top holiday destinations in the UK. However, it is also a fact that they can bring in the tourists.
A new research, however, has revealed that most of the people that have successfully purchased a property in many of these holiday spots do not really live in the same locality. In fact, about 62% of these owners actually reside more than 150 miles away from their second property, as the research from Schofields, a company specialising in holiday insurance, reveals.
On average, homeowners of holiday homes in the UL live about 120 miles from their respective holiday properties. In many of the popular hotspots for tourists around the country, the number of those that do live within the same locality only reach up to 14%.
Furthermore, data from the research reveals that only 11% of those people that own second homes in Cornwall actually live well within 25 miles from where their properties are located. Meanwhile, in Devon, the numbers come only to 14% and a mere 4% for the Lake District.
There are some regions in the UK that are trying to find different ways of tackling their ownership concerning second and holiday homes. For instance, in Yorkshire Dales, there is a threat for owners to have to pay for a council tax hike which if fivefold than the usual on purchases for second homes. In St Ives, tough new rules were put into place where second home and holiday home ownership would mean that new-build properties that were given planning permissions after June of 2016 should be bought and at the same time, should also be owned and used in full as a residential unit.
There are two issues on the matter. First is that most young people are having a hard time getting their own homes even in their local areas. This is especially true if they happen to live somewhere that is quite popular with tourists. However, it is also a fact that holiday homes do help bring more tourists to an area. When tourists do not really have anywhere to stay, then they cannot be expected to come.
Places, such St Ives, that choose to impose regulations to limit not only second home buyers but also those that do not really plan to live within the locality are likely to suffer some downsides as a result. While the good intention is there, this may also result in unintentionally limiting the number of those visitors who will be able to stay locally. After all, without more available accommodations, the number of tourists can’t really be expected to grow.
Yorkshire Dale’s threat to hike up the council tax five times can also have the same knock-on effect on its tourism. This would mean that homeowners who wish to rent their homes to tourists and holiday makers are going to have to bear the brunt of if the increased costs. As a result, there will be a decrease in bookings or worse, tourists would end up staying in areas outside of the region that can offer them cheaper bookings.
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