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Second home owners... what are you doing about your property?

275 replies

DareIask · 16/01/2021 17:03

We haven't visited since September due to restrictions.

Becoming a little concerned as we've never left a property over winter and not sure what we'll go back to. There's no heating on, and although pipes freezing is unlikely I just worry about damp etc

Any experience anyone?

I know this is a privileged problem to have and I have no intention of starting a debate on second homes. Just empty ones

Thanks

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CountessFrog · 18/01/2021 12:10

I ADORE the idea of locals forming a committee and making up rules about what people who legally own a property can do with said property

I can see them making rules about percentage occupancy, increased council tax (I pay business rate not council tax), inferior bin collections and compulsory walking over hot coals to get to the front door. Three dead mackerel through the letterbox for every second weekend unoccupied and a sub committee of ‘pitchfork welcomeers’ taking turns to man the county border.

😂

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DareIask · 18/01/2021 12:10

Hang on.

We're also on holiday some of the time... in some of the seaside places that welcome visitors.

Is that deductible?

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CountessFrog · 18/01/2021 12:11

Maybe if you rent my place, we could swap allowances?

I’ll let you have it a bit cheaper off peak.

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DareIask · 18/01/2021 12:37

Good idea... !

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TheFaithfulBorderBinliner · 18/01/2021 14:27

Darelask this thread was about what to do with your property, I assume in the UK, during crazy times.

You have managed to derail your own thread.

Second home owners... what are you doing about your property?
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Robbybobtail · 18/01/2021 14:33

barrywhiteismybrother I think resentful is the wrong word. Mostly we don't respect you.

I can live with that!

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DareIask · 18/01/2021 14:35

Yes, I hadn't intended to join in the general vitriol.. I let them sideline me.

The advice has been useful and I'm grateful for that.

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TheFaithfulBorderBinliner · 18/01/2021 14:35

So the picture above is a quick screen grab of Fridays interactive map, the purple areas are the areas of high numbers of second homes - Rock, Perenporth, St Ives. Padstow, interestingly low, lots of full time residents and more empty holiday let's.
The centre of Wadebridge, Bude to the north, lots of people and the numbers of positive cases are lower.

Second home owners were asked and then legislation put in place to keep the numbers low.

I think the sense of community that all humans seek is about connections - your GP, dentist, hairdresser, where your kids went to school, recognising people in the shops, being part of clubs & societies, that's where your home really is.

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DareIask · 18/01/2021 14:39

Please note though, my post was asking those like me who haven't visited their second homes.. have respected the community that we join periodically.

I have stated a couple of times I completely understand and agree why mixing isn't wise, and haven't done so.

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GypsyLee · 18/01/2021 14:44

Our other homes have family living in them.
I knew the government wouldn't keep their word on no evictions, racist lot.
But there's usually a family member living there, or a woman fleeing domestic violence, or homeless family member.
Some really judgemental posts on here, you don't know the OP or their situation.

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OrangeSamphire · 18/01/2021 16:56

Second homes erode communities.

Of course, people who want a second home can buy one, but expect that some or all of the permanent residents might feel negative about the impact of second homes on their community.

That doesn't make us spiteful, or resentful.

It doesn't reflect on your personality, or how hard you might have worked, or how much tax you might have paid (newsflash, people everywhere are working hard and paying tax, even in 'holiday hotspots').

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makingmyway10 · 18/01/2021 17:19

Good Lord The amount of jealousy and judging on this thread! Hmm

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homeschoolingyay · 18/01/2021 17:30

Local people have chosen to take the money of second home buyers. They are eroding their communities themselves out of greed. Nothing to stop them selling at a lower price to a local is there.

I havent bought a second home btw so have no sympathies either way.

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OrangeSamphire · 18/01/2021 17:42

Nothing to stop them selling at a lower price to a local is there

This does actually happen more than many realise.

Although often what happens here is that an old person dies, relatives (who have typically moved upcountry) inherit the house and then use it as a second home or put it on the open market to be snapped up by an investor or second home buyer.

So it's not as simple as to say that locals are lining their pockets and decimating their own communities, although of course local residents have a leading role to play in maintaining their own communities.

That's why places like St Ives moved to introduce a second home ban. Which has worked in some ways and backfired in others.

It's not a black and white issue at all.

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CountessFrog · 18/01/2021 18:42

St Ives has not banned second homes.

They have banned the sale of newly built or converted homes as second homes. It’s called an H2 restriction.

I agree re working/backfiring. Several properties have been on the market for a very long time due to their H2 restriction and the fact that the locals dont particularly want to live in flats without gardens and where the rest of the block is occupied by holiday lets.

I think there ought to be a caveat that properties not selling for x period due to H2 restriction can have the H2 restriction removed.

I know a local who owns a flat in a block of six. She’s just lost £50k on it because the other flat owners voted to agree a management clause banning other owners from using their property as a commercial property let. She’s a local, she’s lost money.

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TheFaithfulBorderBinliner · 18/01/2021 19:40

Countessfrog giving the residents the right to prevent holiday lets in a full-time residential block is perfect.
Full time residents with jobs, babies, one birthday party a year hopefully work together, compromise, go to bed at a reasonable hour. Throw one holiday maker flat in and you have new neighbours every Saturday. What an emotional rollercoaster.
And if I'm on holiday I don't want to be woken up by my dentist neighbour going to work or feel resentful about a child I don't know disturbing my snooze.

We have to find away to balance our homes and our holidays.

(St Ives got a bit of a Covid pounding! Stay safe)

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CountessFrog · 18/01/2021 20:11

Yes i agree. But the lady who lost £50k on the sake wasn’t happy at all.

I’m the sort of holiday maker who cannot stand noise. Holiday makers are so bloody inconsiderate a lot of the time, but then again when we last stayed in the centre of st Ives, we were regularly woken by a group of local teenagers (and I know they are locals) with loud music walking between the town and the main beach. Not what you want at 02.50 when the house nextdoor has paper thin walls and is being let by a family with noisy, early rising toddlers.

I like very very quiet, peaceful times.

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CherryRoulade · 18/01/2021 20:19

@DareIask

Please note though, my post was asking those like me who haven't visited their second homes.. have respected the community that we join periodically.

I have stated a couple of times I completely understand and agree why mixing isn't wise, and haven't done so.

We haven’t been to ours since before Christmas. We had planned to go out for New Year but then couldn’t.

We have a neighbour who is our caretaker and housekeeper. She holds a spare key, lets tradespeople in, let’s us know about problems etc.

Works really well; she gets additional income, her family use the garden when there is nobody using it, she will swop bedding etc around after we leave.

We didn’t buy the house, so didn’t take housing from a local.
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Changi · 22/01/2021 21:23

We didn’t buy the house, so didn’t take housing from a local.

Presumably, if you hadn't assumed ownership, it would have gone on the open market.

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wanderings · 22/01/2021 21:58

What would Dominic Cummings do? He and his wealthy mates are bound to have second and third and fourth homes.

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DareIask · 22/01/2021 22:48

@wanderings

What would Dominic Cummings do? He and his wealthy mates are bound to have second and third and fourth homes.

Makes no difference to how I behave.
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Changi · 22/01/2021 23:26

What would Dominic Cummings do?

Does it matter? As demonstrated by his behaviour in the first lockdown, he isn't a particularly good role model.

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Miljea · 23/01/2021 00:23

@MrsDThomas

My friend lives next door to a 2nd home. She has a key and check on things.

Its called being nice and neighbourly.

How much does she claim for that service?
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Miljea · 23/01/2021 00:27

Q:"Even if let’s say, a law was brought it tomorrow to say second home owners, landlords and businesses who owned property must dispose of their assets. The average 20 or 30 something wouldn’t be able to afford those properties because house prices have continued to rise faster than wages"

Um- supply and demand? If all those properties came on the market at once, the prices would fall. That's how it works.

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CountessFrog · 25/01/2021 00:33

I was musing about this. I bought my Cornwall property from a guy who originally lived in Birmingham. He bought it from a property developer originally from Hertfordshire but now living in Cornwall.

I know this because they are both still involved in the property.

Are we supposed to go back several generations and prove Cornish blood to buy a house there? Because it’s quite hard. Lots of people in Cornwall were not born there.

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