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

FWIW, I also think it's only fair to point out that a lot of locals in these areas fiercely oppose any attempts to build new housing.

Plans for houses on field for parking at Royal Cornwall Show | Falmouth Packet
Cornwall planning: Much-needed houses could prove to be 'very, very dangerous' - Cornwall Live
Residents elated as plans to build houses on former pub car park are refused | thepost.uk.com
Permission to build in Cornish hamlet refused
Cornwall hamlet residents say new homes would be 'catastrophic' - Cornwall Live

Fair enough. Bit of a knee jerk reaction on my part.

And I’m not so sure that buying a “wooden chalet” is better for the community. I had this discussion with a friend who bought one when I bought my house. She claimed I was “selfish”. But, as I pointed out to her, we paid second home stamp duty, she did not. We pay council tax (double as of next April) she does not. We have a weekly cleaner and a window cleaner, and gardener and we used local trades to renovate the property. She did not. We never get a supermarket delivery, we use the local shops, she does not. Plus we are there around half the week, every week, using local restaurants and cafes and the one local taxi driver, She is not.

Most of those differences aren't anything to do with the choice of house vs chalet, though; they are just personal differences between you and your friend. Someone could own a chalet and be just as likely to use local trades to renovate (in fact, they'd probably use local trades to build it as well), use the local shops, use a cleaner etc. And having more basic cooking facilities in the chalet and less space would probably result in the holidaymaker spending more time doing things out of the home, like eating out.

I think people who build or buy chalets should pay some sort of local tax on them or similar surcharge, FWIW.

Nobody 'needs' a second home, it is selfish and unneccessary.
The decimation of rural villages due to huge amount of second homes being owned is heartbreaking.
Elderly people isolated as amenities disappear in villages they've lived in for 60/70 years, all so some arrogant person can roll up a few times a year to their 'second home'
Stay in a hotel/cabin, you clearly aren't skint!

I didn't read any implied criticism of the locals for speaking their language. The pp was describing that an inability to converse in that language was a barrier to integration.
I perceive no criticism in that factual statement. If the incomer objected and had demanded they all stated speaking in English I could see where you're coming from.
But they accepted the situation and bowed out.

(And even if you learn some basic level of language you can't have a natter in the pub with it, so it isn't going to solve the 'stand out like a sore thumb effect'.)

Last time Mumsnet had this conversation about Cornwall I had a look on Rightmove. Port Issac, 2 bedroom cottage for sale advertised as an Ideal Airbnb, £1,250000. Thats way out of most locals reach as a starter home.

Where I am the council tax is being quadrupled. Some are selling up but they're still too expensive for local folks. The school closed down last year there's no young families these days.

Some of our villages on the coast are empty in the winter. Shops, cafes, pubs, all close down.

Honest answer.
It's not contempt.
It's genuine frustration that some locals cannot get one place to call home, yet some people get a spare one (or more).
It doesn't justify nastiness but it does justify not being particularly enthusiastic about your presence.

I live in Cornwall. There isn't enough housing for locals- don't buy in an area there's a shortage and then hardly use it.

A friend has sold in Wales as he didn’t speak Welsh and felt uncomfortable. It rather marks you out as not a local.

How very dare they speak their own language in their own village. So rude. Did your friend make any attempt to learn at least some basic Welsh?

@CitrineRaindropPhoenix agree, and it’s not just London! I couldn’t have afforded even a one bed flat in my home town when I started work, I had to move really quite far away and my home town isn’t a tourist town. Plus, that was almost 30 years ago, so it has always been an issue.
And I’m not so sure that buying a “wooden chalet” is better for the community. I had this discussion with a friend who bought one when I bought my house. She claimed I was “selfish”. But, as I pointed out to her, we paid second home stamp duty, she did not. We pay council tax (double as of next April) she does not. We have a weekly cleaner and a window cleaner, and gardener and we used local trades to renovate the property. She did not. We never get a supermarket delivery, we use the local shops, she does not. Plus we are there around half the week, every week, using local restaurants and cafes and the one local taxi driver, She is not.
Our house wouldn’t have been a first time buyers house anyway plus, we told the sellers (it went to BaF) that it would be a second home and they sold it to us.
I do agree that if people are buying second homes and never using them that it detrimental to the community but how you actually police that I don’t know.

But people who are born and raised in London are told to suck it up and move out when talking about exactly the same problem.

As someone who is born and bred in an area of outstanding natural beauty I believe second home ownership now needs to be banned or very strictly monitored because locals like me cannot afford to buy and rent In the area where we were brought up and raised.

I'm not so familiar with the situation in Canada, but I am guessing that it is the norm to build your own cabin or buy one that has been purpose-built for tourism by someone else.

I think that (in part, perhaps, because Canada is so thinly populated) there is likely to be more leeway about self-building your own holiday home in the Canadian countryside, whereas British planning laws make this really difficult. So, people can add to the existing housing stock rather than fighting with locals over a limited stock. I think that makes a massive difference.

The UK, on the other hand, is a fairly densely populated country, and there is concern about concreting over more of an island that is already somewhat nature depleted, which in part explains the slightly nutty planning laws.

An alternative, of course, would be to build taller buildings, and shift towards things like mid-rise apartments in popular areas. But the British have never been very keen on flats, and there is a feeling that areas like the Lake District and Cornish fishing villages are supposed to "look nice and old fashioned" with no tall buildings. If you can't build up OR out, that's going to be pretty limited. Unless people go Hobbit-style and start constructing underground dwellings (hmm, maybe that'll be the next thing...?)

There is also the British attachment to old buildings - a lot of people going to Cornwall probably insist on an old cottage for its olde world charm. For obvious reasons, there is only a limited stock of these. In Canada, for obvious reasons, there aren't many buildings hundreds of years old so I am guessing the issue does not come up - holiday homes will usually be newly-built, wooden structures.

I didn't think it was comparable. I was just answering the question. I wasn't aware it was restricted to UK housing, so I'll say no more about it.

Not really comparable. Our population density is more than 100x yours & we've a housing crisis coupled with restrictive (& selective) house building laws.

Counties where second homes are a real issue don't have enough housing stock left for the local population either on the open market or social housing. The open market has become wildly expensive vs the local population average income (in Cornwall the disparity is among the worst in the UK) due to property investment/buy-to-holiday-let & second home ownership.

Long term rental tenants have been turfed out to repurpose the home as Airbnbs - but there's nowhere for those ppl to move into. The council can sometimes house them in emergency bnb's or caravans, moving them around frequently & sometimes into other counties entirely - away from their jobs, schools & families.

It's become difficult for core services to recruit staff (hospitals, care homes, schools etc etc) cos there's no where close to affordable to live.

So, not like Canada at all.

I live in Canada and it's considered normal to have a holiday home, usually on a lake. Most often it's more of a rustic cabin, not some big fancy house. I live in my holiday home now and am trying to sell my city house. I can't see why anyone would judge anybody negatively for having a holiday home, since a large percentage of people do have them. In fact, people tend to be friendly in the hope you'll invite them to stay for a weekend.

I have a second 'home' in my home town, a top floor Victorian tenement. We do not rent it out, and are good neighbors whether we are there or not. We contribute to garden and building upkeep, and do the bins etc every week we are there.

We pay double property tax and feel that is the right thing.

It's not a holiday town, and isn't in the center, but even though I feel a bit guilty. My neighbors are lovely and friendly though, and often plan gatherings when we are there.

Second homes, Airbnb, hobby landlords. These are all decimating areas all over the UK.

My father's side of the family is from Windermere, all my cousins have been priced out so have moved further afield. My auntie lives in a gorgeous cottage and is always complaining about people knocking on her door to sell, or notes get put through the door.

Her street once was full of life throughout the year, now it's second homes and Airbnbs. It's horrific what is going on and it needs sorting out asap.

There's a saying a saying around where I am (a tourist countryside hot spot).

Buy buy holiday houses.
Bye bye homes.

Selfish second homers leaving empty houses vacant so noone can actually live there anymore ruins the place for everyone. Just because "the locals" (these inconvenient people) don't say anything, doesn't mean they aren't thinking it.

Mostly very well. We made a real effort to get to know people and join community groups, volunteer etc and have many local friends.

We used to spend more than 50% of our time there so it really actually was our ‘home’.

We built the house on a large rural property we already owned so weren’t taking existing housing stock.

I’m in Australia though and from the responses here it seems Australians are much more welcoming and less xenophobic than in the UK.

COVID and holiday homes. There was anger in some of our communities when the moment each lockdown date was announced second home owners rushed over to their second homes because it was more pleasant to walk on beaches, in forests. Some of them brought it with them. Our health board already in special measures without the added pressure really didn't need it . Locals called the police in some instances when they arrived during lockdowns.

There's no getting round it, they are affecting the price of property. And if they sub let the constant change of neighbours in party mode till all hours is wearing when they're keeping everything awake

Our next door neighbours house is a holiday home for them, they come maybe 4-5 times per year and pretty much the whole of summer. They’re a retired couple, friendly, but nosey. It’s a plus for us because the majority of the time they aren’t here (nothing personal) we’d rather that than a noisy, permanent family for example. But the man is annoying and always parks his car in our spot as soon as the come. I don’t view them in any negative way, the man was a Dr, retired a while ago, they wanted to spend their money on a holiday home 🤷🏻‍♀️fair play to them.

I don't think my friends judge me for having a second home. I share it with extended family and friends. My DC's friends occasionally stay in it too. I'd rather it was used than empty. All I ask is that the person using it washes and dries bedding and puts it back on the bed for the next person using it and they leave the kitchen CV lean and tidy.

My holiday home is in Brittany France. It is 2km from the nearest town, and set in a hamlet of about 17 or 18 houses. Everyone speaks when we go out taking dogs for a walk. We have one good friend who speaks very good English and we asked her where the tip was, she has also recommended good tradesmen to do jobs on our property too. She keeps an eye on the house when we are not there and we take her shortbread and her husband whiskey when we return, her DH is so fond of whiskey.