How hated will we be?

[SecondH]

DH and I are looking at buying a second home by the coast. I would love to hear from other second home owners and people who live in areas where there are lots of second home owners. How hated by the locals would we be? Do neighbours ignore you etc?

There was a similar situation with a cottage near us, owned by a couple who lived a long way off. they would visit every so often, and the cottage was let for holidays the rest of the time. They too planned to retire to it but when it came time for that they decided it wasn't for them and sold it.
They didn't get any resentment as far as I know, from those who live here.

Have you thought through the practicalities of retiring to Cornwall? When you’re too old to be able to drive and far from the hospital for appointments/emergencies?

How would you feel if, on retirement, you realised that there were no shops, no pubs, no restaurants, no community, nothing near by because all the other houses were bought as second homes and sat empty for most of the year as well until retirement allowed relocation, by which time the whole place was then a ghost town because real life can't make a living on 4 weeks naice holidays a year? That's what you're potentially looking at.

As for letting it out, how would you like it if there was a constant stream of new people turning up, not putting the bins out properly, being rowdy, parking in the wrong place etc? Be honest, you'd absolutely hate it wouldn't you? There's your answer. Do unto others etc.

Depends how you behave to be honest. If you come down when you do and lord and lady it everywhere you go and use loud voices whilst doing so people won’t be rude to your face but they won’t think much of you either.
If you treat the locals like ‘little people, so artisanal’ that will not go down well either.

Another 6 years. We would still like to have use of it during the summer and allow family and friends to holiday there too, so becoming landlords for the next 6 years isn't really on the agenda.

If I lived next door to such a house I'd prefer someone to live in it who owns it.

Failing that, a long-term tenant.

Definitely no to holiday makers who will just be a pain in the backside.

And I don't see the point of only using a house once or twice a year for yourselves. Why not just spend your money on staying in a nice hotel in your chosen area a couple of times a year.

People NEVER think about this. They think their long-suffering children will drive backwards and forward every weekend to their rural "idyll".

Hopefully that’s a typo 🤣🤣

Then buy it when you are ready to live there. Don't be drain on the local economy and kill a place you claim to love in the meantime.

We are not the same, but perhaps that is due to the balance in the area where many are second homes, but most aren’t. OP could look at an area with a thriving community a bit away from the ‘tourist hot spot’ so as not to e.g. contribute to the death of a struggling village.

Keep it in good nick, be a good neighbour, don’t Airbnb it (if you can afford to buy it you can afford not to Airbnb it), and don’t lie, it’s worse when people arrive saying they ‘love it and will practically live there’ then you next see them at New Year’s with a crowd of friends down and greeting you like old pals. And sell it to a local when you’re done with it. Or move there permanently if you like it!

Are you aware that you will pay double council tax?
Are you too rich to care?

https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/council-tax/second-homes/

Edit to say: also there is scope for this to be increased in the future - the legislation is there.

I live in an area with lots of second homes and it absolutely kills a community and prices out locals looking to buy or rent. I would absolutely hate to have an air b and b next door. But a sunny summers day and all the pubs and restaurants are full it does boost the local economy. I think in the main second home owners are tolerated but not loved. However in some places there is hostility. There is a 3 bed house for sale by the sea near me for over a million and it is only that price because it will be sold as a second home.

I think buying it just to stay there in the summers for 6 years is a bad idea. It will cost you a lot to maintain this house and you will barely get any use of it. If you don't want to be landlords, and you don't want to live in it then don't buy it yet.

People put up signs in certain areas in Cornwall. The negative feeling is very obvious.

Then it's a pity that so many locals have profitted from selling their homes as second homes!

That's what we've done. Gutted that we don't get to use it. Didn't want to blight the village with yet another holiday rental though, so we rent to a local family. Our only hope it that we get a week or two between tenants when we can enjoy it. One day it'll be our home though.

I live in Dorset, there are lots of second homes. It's a free country, and if you want to buy a second home that's your choice. I think what annoys locals is that a large proportion of second homes are empty 90% of the time. Therefore, the person owning it, isn't spending money within the town, which in turn isn't aiding the local economy. The more second homes purchased within the area, the higher the property market, which prices locals out.

I live in a coastal area, and I would be actively cool to a new neighbour that did this. I'm sure I'll get a cascade of filth in response to this, but truthfully, locals around here are civil to second homers and (less so) air BnB owners, but not welcoming. It has such an impact on the area.

And hope they don’t trash it and refuse to leave without going to court

But not the ones who still live there. This is not locals fault. They would be making it impossible to buy their next house to sell only to locals as it would involve a discount.

Where in Cornwall? My home town in Cornwall has been destroyed by second home ownership

Fortunately it is a 20 minute drive to the main hospital there, which is actually less time than the drive to hospital where we live now. It's a high tourist area so there are plenty of amenities.

We have a second home on the coast. Haven't experienced anything negative at all- area is a mix of locals and second home owners. There was even a local campaign against double council tax (which included local people) as the main local industry is tourism. The area is thriving but that comes almost entirely from holidaymakers- there is almost no other industry outside farming- having every house inhabited by a local person would kill the tourist trade dead.

Things that help- shopping locally not having it all delivered, employing local people for maintenance, gardening etc, not acting like a dick.

Why not wait until you actually want to move there to buy? Seems unnecessary to buy several years in advance and yes second homes are generally terrible for the local area and rightly hated. Move properly and be an active part of the community when you’re ready for that.

Feels like such a stealth boasting post. No one cares.