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?

Have you been on the gin?

I'm from the coast. Second home owners are broadly disliked in my home town. Firstly because the ones that sit empty for months on end decimate local activity and make it difficult for small local traders to stay in business. But secondly, and more crucially, the ones that rent as holiday lets have absolutely battered the housing market. People buying houses to then rent them out for daft amounts per week means there's far fewer long term rentals or houses to buy, and those that are available are too expensive.

Nobody would be nasty to you, but you wouldn't be made to feel welcome either.

What a strange question. I've read all of the comments and whilst I understand second home owners are disliked it appears tourists and incomers aren't all that welcome either, which is news to me.

Have you?

No

After a balanced thread you suddenly post multiple comments in quick succession at 11pm with really negative comments

You said- 'but if this is a reflection of the general feeling it might be best to let the place rot'.

Why would a place rot because you are not buying a 2nd home there ?

What is negative about recognising it might not be the best place to buy after reading the opinions. I'd call that realistic. I also didn't realise there were rules to how I post. I've been busy and came back to the thread to see many more comments, I've been reacting to and addressing them as I go.

'Let the place rot' as in the property than has stood unoccupied for 2 years, is still on the market and needs renovation. You'd know that if you had read my comments.

Had I been on the gin, I'd have been in bed by 9pm. Rather ironic you make such a comment and talk about negativity though.

'Not letting the house rot' is so altruistic of you, maybe the National Trust will give you a grant.

That is what's happening though.

How?

Not the point of the thread but your definition of “needs gutting” is very different to mine. I don’t like the decor but it’s perfectly liveable! When you said it needs a full renovation I was imagining wires hanging out the walls, holes in ceilings and and a floor that would splinter as soon as any weight was put on it.

They don't live there

They don't pay council tax

They don't send their children to the village school so it closes
They don't attend the local church and so the congregation dwindles and they no longer run sessions such as parent and toddler (in a village the church is about community not religion) They loose the Vicar
The Village shop closes as the Tesco and Ocado vans pull up at 7pm on a Friday (they spend no money in the village)
The Pubs close (2/4 in my village)
They think it is ok to be making noise in the garden at 1am on a Tuesday in June
They cycle past the remembrance service at the cenotaph laughing and joking (ok that one may be very personal)

I'd check that hospital out. Friends in Cornwall say their main hospital is in dire straits. I'd certainly take out private health insurance now well before you retire.

It is not rotting! You shared the link

No that’s much worse, different people coming is unstable and I hate not knowing them and being cautious with my Dd (rest of neighbourhood all know one another)
Also, short term renters often go care as much and make noise, play music, in late etc
Our next door neighbours come to stay a few times a year, the rest of the time it’s empty, that’s fine with us. House a bit round the corner constantly rents out, it’s awful

It destroys the towns/ villages. As someone who lives I a costal village they are not well liked, most will not be rude to your face if course but you will not be accepted.

I am in Cornwall and when my husband had a near-fatal seizure the ambulance was on our drive within ten minutes. He was blue-lighted to Treliske Hospital where all staff members were fantastic with him throughout his stay - and so kind to me.

Our surgery is brilliant too.

That said, they are under extreme pressure which would be helped by developers being made to pay higher levies for essential infrastructure before they are granted planning permission.

Use it regularly, get involved in the community and shop locally and it might work out okay, especially if you intend to retire there eventually.

That is dreadful. Life long residents have no more rights to an area than new comers. As far as people who own holiday homes & live there itermittently they also have every right to buy the property. Nobody has a right to ownership of a whole area regardless of whether they have lived there for generations or whether they are new. As far as letting out their property as a holiday home as long as the occupiers are not anti-social it is nobody elses business. What is the difference between owning a home you live in ocassionaly and living there full time. The home belongs to someone & it's up to them to do as they please with it.

Other issues aside, and I do love the view, is this really the best house if you are looking for your final home to get old in? You'd have to install a bathroom downstairs and convert one of the lower rooms into a bedroom. That section is also not going to be easy to maintain when you're older. We'll be looking for a home that will last us for the rest of our lives at some point, and those are the things I'm looking at.

I agree I always think the same. Bloody hypocrites.

Of course a local would usually prefer to sell to people who were using it as their family home (assuming they can afford to, what with all these bleddy emmets pushing up prices 🙄), e.g if they were choosing between bidders.