If you own a second home how do you get treated by locals?

Do you think they would have stayed? Much of Europe has the same problem, but where houses aren’t bought as holiday homes, they become derelict. Good internet infrastructure has started to make it possible to get other jobs in these remote places, but many still don’t have that. Italy is full of empty villages and they can’t give them away to people who will live there. Not even for €1.

No one is stopping you from complaining about second home owners too. None of us are big fans of Russian oligarchs.

This is our experience locally too.

Some councils are offering grants for kitchens, bathrooms, boilers, up to 30k here if you then sign it over to them on a 20 year lease. They will pay you market rent and handle everything including repairs.

It's a new form of social housing.

My father died and left us some money in 2020. He was a practical man and he built his own home at the age of 70. My sisters and I all used our inheritance to build from scratch or renovate rundown property. My dad would have preferred that to sticking it in the bank.
We bought a cottage in a remote village in the Highlands that we used to holiday in. We can see my grandmother’s house from there so there is a family connection. The cottage had been uninhabited for five years. Nothing had been done to it for more than 40 years. It was on the market for many months.
We completely gutted it, renovated it and spent £100k doing it up. We used local tradesmen and bought local supplies. Kitchen was made locally. Stove was supplied and installed by a local firm. Damp proof course, roof work etc we’re all local firms.
I did worry about the attitude of the community but everyone has been really friendly. No one locally was prepared to take on the project. We’ve made great friends in the village. We use the local shop, we eat out in the local restaurants. We invite friends to stay. We don’t rent it out. We are there whenever we can be all year round. It’s been such a fantastic project to be involved with. it’s brought so much joy.
It’s not a business but I am concerned at the way property businesses in Scotland in general are seen to be somewhat immoral. The depopulation of the Highlands is a big issue but a lack of affordable housing is only part of the story. Poor transport links, high fuel costs, the ferry scandal, a lack of jobs and investment, the decision to stop investment in oil and gas - a major sector of the Scottish economy. The closure of maternity services and local hospitals and a policy of concentrating resources in large urban centres in the central belt all play a part.
Im not sure what the answer is but someone needs to invest in derelict properties and remote communities.

Our main home may seem like a second home to some, but we libe in work accommodation.

I know lots of jobs where people are away from their main home during the week/s so how can the locals differentiate?

It depends where you get the second home doesn't it - needs to be in a place where you're not pricing locals out of small communities. Cornwall sounds like a place to avoid! - sad about the people who were not being told about the tree fallen on their house. We've heard the same from friends who do have a second home in Cornwall - they are aware of the attitude but in fact they are well liked as they genuinely do support the economy and spend a lot of time there (and are diplomatic!).

Average house prices in Cornwall are over 10 times average salaries. Properties which could be used for long term rentals to families are sitting empty of months at a time until the emmets open them up again at Easter & then complain about not being able to find anyone to install a charging point for their Tesla.

Treliske Hospital can't cope with the skewed demographics of an elderly population of those who retired down here alongside the holiday makers in the summer. Beds are blocked because there's not enough provision for social care. Locals are expected to be grateful to have NMW jobs in the care sector or hospitality.

When we had a property for sale we refused to sell to couples from up country claiming they would definitely be moving to our village. It was so obvious it would be listed on Air BnB within months. We took the hit and sold to a local family for far less than we could have got, but our village still has around 90% who live there permanently. It would be a far different mix a few miles away on the coast.

Agree totally ! It's a dreadful struggle affording to live in London but we don't seem to moan about it quite so much .

I bought a flat in my home town so that when we went back to visit my family we wouldn’t be stepping on their toes every time. This is a part of the UK that is in no way a tourist destination or in any way desirable. Think ‘most deprived cities in the UK’.

I had vague plans to either pass it on to my ageing parents as their current home is far too big for them, or to my son when we are gone so that he retains his connection to ‘home’ (we’ve moved about a lot - can’t be helped, it’s just how it’s been). It’s never been seen as an investment and I’ve never wanted to make a profit of any sort.

In 7 or 8 years time I’ll be paying at least 1200 a month in council tax. I can’t afford that. To sell it I’d realistically have to have a new kitchen and bathroom put in. I can’t afford to do that. To rent it out I’d have to do the same. If I sell I’m going to be absolutely whacked by the tax authorities in my country of residence even if it sells for less than I paid for it, so I’m going to be much worse off.

I want to appeal it with the council but I’m very aware that it sounds like an incredibly tone deaf thing to do given that I could afford to buy in the first place. At the same time it feels like I’m being punished for a problem (housing shortage and locals being priced out) that is non existent in the area in question. If I were to sell that flat it would be most likely to a landlord and then rented out….. probably to someone not paying any council tax at all, or at a discount.

Ive had so many sleepless nights over this and I don’t see a way out that isn’t going to leave me significantly worse off.

So yeah, OP. I’d be looking at council tax rates.

Vast generalisation incoming: the Cornwall locals vs Londoners account for most of it.
Weirdly, most Londoners don’t hold it against the huge number of foreign nationals who purchase (second, third, tenth) homes there, thereby pushing homeownership in the capital outside the reach of all but the wealthiest.

I lived next to a second home owner for years, they were lovely. They’d come down once a month or so for weekends and to be honest it was fabulous because it was always great to see them but we also had the freedom of not having to worry about much noise we made!

The adjoining council to us has increased council tax by 150%. In a meeting this week on second homes and empty homes.

The council to the west of us want to quadruple the council tax for second homes

It's getting interesting here. We'll have to see.

Same here.

Exactly this. Where I live it’s very hard to feel warmth towards second home owners when people born here can’t buy a house.

Totally agree with this. I live in an area awash with second homes, they are absolutely destroying our communities locally. Some villages have almost no residents any more.
Most owners tell themselves that their single second home is just one home, for them, and therefore doesn’t make much difference…. Or they know how damaging they are but don’t care. Either way , yes it is a totally selfish thing to do. If you like an area and a community why would you want to destroy it ?

@justasking111 and @Smallsalt wow. I could have written this.

We have had the most ridiculous blow up, last year, over our community council, Scotland, and new members, seeking to turn it into a parish council. England.

It caused the most serious upset and damage the community has seen. I don't say that lightly. I'm actually reluctant to talk about how vicious and nasty it got.

Anyway. It's done. But when you see old ladies who were born here and who would give you their last pound crying it's not fun.

And actually people like that do such much harm for the lovely people who come and do want to fit in and help. Change is wonderful and absolutely needs to happen but in a positive, often sensitive way.

I live in west Cornwall and second home owners are universally hated here. Typically they can’t cope with the narrow lanes, complain about things that are standard in the countryside and assume everyone who lives here depends upon the tourist industry (when only 14% of our economy is generated by tourism). We all know which houses are second homes as it’s a very rural area.

I used to live in a small block of flats where some were holiday lets or second homes. An elderly lady who lived there and had early stage dementia used to say how unsafe it made her feel - empty flats and different people she didn't know coming in and out past her door.

You make some valid points about retirees. In fact they're more of a problem than tourism.

They pop up on FB asking where's the NHS dentist, where's the best GP surgery, how long is the waiting list for hip/knee surgeries.

They creep onto committees, volunteer for charities, then set about trying to reorganize it all.

They're impatient, pushy, rude, write letters of objection to the council, especially if there are any plans to improve leisure activities for children.

It tends to be city/urban dwellers who retire here who are the rudest, especially in shops.

It isn't though - the person who buys a second home may eventually decide to live there as their main home. The surveyor who is currently helping with a local project at no cost owns a second home which does sit there empty for parts of the year.

There are homes here which locals would not buy no matter how much they cost - well if they can afford them they will rent them out to tourists. Very remote, run down properties need the people with money and will to renovate them.

I would rather have a second home owner look after their property, contribute to the local community and businesses when they are here, than someone who books a holiday cottage, brings all their food with them, never supports local events, then goes back home.

Some locals do not help themselves, some second home owners do not either but that does not mean everyone is the same.

The teacher who is now working in one of the local schools, came here on holiday with their family many times, when waiting for the purchase of their new home here to exchange and complete, a second home owner allowed the teacher to live there to enable them to be at the school for the start of the new school year.

@schloss

There's a big difference between ppl moving to an area, living there full time etc & ppl buying up property only for it to be left empty most of the year. I don't believe I've seen anyone (here or IRL) moaning about ppl moving & living here - that's needed as the older population die off or move into sheltered living & homes (3 houses on my small street currently for sale due to exactly those reasons).

This is specifically about homes sitting empty when the local population & their children need places to live.

"But by then the community will have been destroyed" - I am from and live in a popular tourist area, we have a strong sense of community and that is made up of locals and non-locals. The non-locals, whether they have moved here to retire, to work or have a second home, are part of the community if they make an effort not to come in all guns blazing telling locals what they should and should not do. Looking at the non-local who has moved here, joined the parish council and says only vegan food should be served at the meetings - the majority of the rest of the council being hill farmers.

We welcome a new teacher who because they sold a house in a part of the country which is far more expensive than here, purchased a chocolate box cottage in a very desirable village and her job means the local school can continue to be open following the retirement of the 2 other part-time teachers.

We welcome the second home owner, who has offered to help the parish council (for free) in a project which requires a surveyor to be on board.

If we had not welcomed or alienated those non-locals the local community would be worse off.

It is not a black and white situation, you cannot stop people buying houses or selling them at a price both parties agree to.

We have s106 housing which does not sell, why? The younger locals do not wish to work in farming or tourism, so they move to areas close by to work in their chosen professions.

@Cosycardiganandteaandtoast my grandmother-in law owned numerous properties in north wales. Cannot believe how much she gloated once about winning a cottage at auction in Llangollen.
Her grandson said when she won locals jeered in anger but gm was oblivious.

That was her holiday home but she purchased many others to rent out as holiday lets. She had a large portfolio. Awful! She's passed now but her daughters now own the properties

High council taxes won’t put off the people who own the properties anyway.

We have a friend who has a farm in a hamlet just outside a very popular north yorks market town. The house opposite is a second home, it is probably worth a few million. Over the last few years it’s just the older children who use it with their school chums for a few weeks.
They clearly have the money to spare and don’t care. It’s not a home a local will buy but our friend hates that her view is an empty house. She also says over the last 50 years their town has become very popular and all the shops are there to cater for tourists, not residents. So yes it appears booming but not useable for locals.

But like someone mentioned, high numbers of retired incomers can cause issues too, but there is no way to police that.