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How hated will we be?

620 replies

SecondH · 10/06/2026 15:08

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?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
10
Scout2016 · 10/06/2026 16:19

Buying a house that will be empty most of the time for 6 years instead of leaving it for someone local is selfish. You read like you are happy to be selfish as long as no one local calls you out on it or shuns you. But your behaviour is antisocial so why shouldn't they?
Next generations can't afford houses near their parents / grandparents because of second home owners. Families are being unwillingly dispersed.
Empty house means no local shopping, pub / restaurant use during those periods. Holiday rentals inflict randoms on neighbours.

But you already know all this OP. Buy when you are ready to move, holiday there in the meantime.

TeaPot496 · 10/06/2026 16:19

Cornish satire (Steve Heller)

How hated will we be?
2msoundsright · 10/06/2026 16:21

TeaPot496 · 10/06/2026 15:55

Except the main local industry is not tourism. Those complaining about the council tax may profit from tourism themselves, but it is only 7.5% of Cornwall's economic output.

I'm talking about my area, not Cornwall. But in any event the relevant area is going to be far smaller than a county- no one is commuting from St Just to Liskeard.

Thatcannotberight · 10/06/2026 16:21

CornishPorsche · 10/06/2026 16:16

There is only one main hospital, in Truro.

We are a very poor county. Second home owners are a scourge on our society and are adding to the problems, not contributing.

Why don't you just spend a few quid each year renting an apartment, caravan or hotel room and invest in the economy instead?

I'm guessing she means The West Cornwall at Penzance. St. Ives is about 20 minutes from there. 😬🫣

SecondH · 10/06/2026 16:24

Thatcannotberight · 10/06/2026 16:21

I'm guessing she means The West Cornwall at Penzance. St. Ives is about 20 minutes from there. 😬🫣

I have corrected myself on this already.

OP posts:
Kakkilakki · 10/06/2026 16:24

Tonissister · 10/06/2026 15:16

You'll be hated if the house stands empty 90% of the time, and you arrive for the occasional week laden with boxes of food you brought from home. But if you are there most weekends, shop locally, get involved with the local community, give work to locals to clean the house, tend the garden etc, you might fit in okay.

Exactly this

SecondH · 10/06/2026 16:25

Thanks for all of the comments so far.

OP posts:
OnlyMabelInTheBuilding · 10/06/2026 16:25

We have one; no one cares. Enjoy!

KenDewsbury · 10/06/2026 16:26

CornishPorsche · 10/06/2026 16:16

There is only one main hospital, in Truro.

We are a very poor county. Second home owners are a scourge on our society and are adding to the problems, not contributing.

Why don't you just spend a few quid each year renting an apartment, caravan or hotel room and invest in the economy instead?

Yes the only 'main' hospital is Truro. I am from near Polzeath so struggling to think of where you might be moving to if it's further south. But that's irrelevant, just note that the amount of locals searching for long term lets/own homes is equivalent to number of holiday homes in the county.

Anyway if you're planning to move there full time eventually I would advise visiting in the winter for a month before making any house purchase to give an idea of how you'd be living for 6 months of th year.

Also I know several elderly couples who have retired rurally hours away from family and are now really struggling, so be aware of that too.

Walkingonairdays · 10/06/2026 16:26

There appears to be a lot of NIMBYs on this thread. Personally if I wanted to buy a retiral home before I actually retired, I wasn't letting it out unless to well vetted mature occupants, & I stayed there ocassionaly until ready to move permanently, I wouldn't give a hoot what perochial locals thought. Ultimately I wouldn't wish to mix with people with that unwelcoming mindset anyway & I certainly wouldn't allow them to dictate my life choices.

Pleasering · 10/06/2026 16:27

SecondH · 10/06/2026 16:25

Thanks for all of the comments so far.

Ignore the bitter, jealous ones from people who don’t even live in the tourist areas

Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain · 10/06/2026 16:28

My parents had a second home (holiday) in SW France. The plot of land the vendors said could be used for a swimming pool and which had been offered to them belonged to the mayor and he then said he was keeping it for his daughter. They put a pool in the back garden. Before and after Brexit the French were unfriendly. They were happy to receive our money in their supermarket, shops, bars and restaurants though. And we have direct French heritage too. It was used a lot, my parents especially stepdad went out there for months at a time. They sold (partly because friends who lived/had second homes there died or sold up) and they bought a seaside house in Broadstairs. This is used a lot too. In places like France lots of houses remain empty and derelict unless people but them for holiday homes so I say go for it here too.

Troublein · 10/06/2026 16:29

Yes you will be hated a lot.

You will be killing the place you choose and when you do finally retire, there will not be kind or helpful neighbours because of what you have done.

It is their children, their friends who will have been unhoused for your dream, so if you have a fall nobody is going to care or help you.

There is a massive shortage of doctors and hospital beds in Cornwall all year round, and they are put under tremendous pressure every tourist season.
I hope you aren't expecting to get great medical care as an incomer who helped kill another village/town and added nothing to an area for everyone who really lives there.

I've seen so many people from upcountry move down to Cornwall, then endlessly bitch they don't get tourist treatment in areas they have impoverished by inflating prices.
If you want work done, you'll struggle to find anyone because you will have priced most of those people out of the area.

I have known nurses who have to sleep in cars and RVs illegally parked because of second home owners to do their job in Cornwall - that is nurses who you expect to treat you when you come in from your dream retirement home at an age when you are more likely to put high demand on medical services.

There are usually just under 50 ambulances to cover the entire county at peak times so hope you aren't going to rely on one of those as you could be waiting days.

I know what happens to old incomers when they get sick and start bed blocking locals, as there are only just about 1100 hospital beds in the whole county including mental health beds, acute care, the lot.
They are not loved.

Book yourself funeral plans before you move down, because your retirement plan is to die alone in an area where you have left a house empty for 6 years then turned up expecting locals to stand by you and be your community after you have harmed it.
You'll then get to enjoy the airB&B scum too, who will turn up and vomit all over your property while they have a screaming drunk fight in the street and you'll feel about them the way the locals feel about you

I know Cornish people who hate anyone from the next village over and are proud they've never been more than 30 miles from home in their life.
You'll be an emmet til the day you die and if your family live far enough away, they won't bother coming down to your funeral.
Cornish nursing homes are full of old wealthy incomers who get no visitors from one end of the year til the next unless someone is concerned they have been written out of the will.
Family stay in touch for the first bit when incomers move down, but then it's just too far away from their everyday lives and there are other places they want to go in the little time off they have while their kids don't really know their distant old relatives as they hardly ever see them, so they drift away after a few years.

You'll get people coming onto your thread telling you people will love you, it's all fine etc...

I've seen your type countless times over the past fifty years, first their friends who come to visit die off or get too sick to travel so they stop visiting, then their family get caught up in their own lives, then they find they are surrounded by strangers they have nothing in common with.

It's the same story 90% of the time unless it's people who have family already in the area who are moving back.

It won't be so bad when there are still two of you, but there will be nobody to share the strain with when the first gets sick, then after they die you will be alone in a place where nobody cares about you just when you get super needy.

Don't imagine you'll have friendly neighbours who pop in to make sure you are okay when you are alone.
People who can afford to work as carers have been long since priced out by people like you, so you'll struggle to get any home help if you need it.

They might not be rude to your face, but you will have zero goodwill when you really need it as you get older.
You are not of any benefit to the place you want to turn up when you are at your least productive and most expensive stage of your life to a community.

You are the reason a teacher has to live in a bedsit, the doctor can't treat the local guy because you took the appointment, the local primary school has to close because young families have been pushed out of the area by you.

But hey, I bet it's a pretty looking house in the pictures on a sunny day, so what could possibly go wrong?
Enjoy being old, alone and vulnerable with a great view though.

ThreadGuardDog · 10/06/2026 16:30

SecondH · 10/06/2026 15:16

Thanks for the honesty. Do you hate them to the point of being rude if one lived next door? Or would it be a quiet resentment.

I think it depends on why you have a second home. If you’re going to be absent most of the time and rent it out, then yes, you’ll get some resentment. If you’re actually going to use it yourselves, get involved and contribute to the local economy - shopping in the local area and looking locally for any cleaners/gardeners you’re intending to employ, then maybe not so much. For context my mum moved to the coast of North Wales after my dad died. She didn’t last long there and moved back taking a loss on the house. She was virtually ostracised by the locals - ignored in shop queues, people reverted to talking in Welsh whenever she walked into an establishment. When she tried to join local activity groups she was left in no doubt that she was an outsider. Horrible.

Pleasering · 10/06/2026 16:30

Troublein · 10/06/2026 16:29

Yes you will be hated a lot.

You will be killing the place you choose and when you do finally retire, there will not be kind or helpful neighbours because of what you have done.

It is their children, their friends who will have been unhoused for your dream, so if you have a fall nobody is going to care or help you.

There is a massive shortage of doctors and hospital beds in Cornwall all year round, and they are put under tremendous pressure every tourist season.
I hope you aren't expecting to get great medical care as an incomer who helped kill another village/town and added nothing to an area for everyone who really lives there.

I've seen so many people from upcountry move down to Cornwall, then endlessly bitch they don't get tourist treatment in areas they have impoverished by inflating prices.
If you want work done, you'll struggle to find anyone because you will have priced most of those people out of the area.

I have known nurses who have to sleep in cars and RVs illegally parked because of second home owners to do their job in Cornwall - that is nurses who you expect to treat you when you come in from your dream retirement home at an age when you are more likely to put high demand on medical services.

There are usually just under 50 ambulances to cover the entire county at peak times so hope you aren't going to rely on one of those as you could be waiting days.

I know what happens to old incomers when they get sick and start bed blocking locals, as there are only just about 1100 hospital beds in the whole county including mental health beds, acute care, the lot.
They are not loved.

Book yourself funeral plans before you move down, because your retirement plan is to die alone in an area where you have left a house empty for 6 years then turned up expecting locals to stand by you and be your community after you have harmed it.
You'll then get to enjoy the airB&B scum too, who will turn up and vomit all over your property while they have a screaming drunk fight in the street and you'll feel about them the way the locals feel about you

I know Cornish people who hate anyone from the next village over and are proud they've never been more than 30 miles from home in their life.
You'll be an emmet til the day you die and if your family live far enough away, they won't bother coming down to your funeral.
Cornish nursing homes are full of old wealthy incomers who get no visitors from one end of the year til the next unless someone is concerned they have been written out of the will.
Family stay in touch for the first bit when incomers move down, but then it's just too far away from their everyday lives and there are other places they want to go in the little time off they have while their kids don't really know their distant old relatives as they hardly ever see them, so they drift away after a few years.

You'll get people coming onto your thread telling you people will love you, it's all fine etc...

I've seen your type countless times over the past fifty years, first their friends who come to visit die off or get too sick to travel so they stop visiting, then their family get caught up in their own lives, then they find they are surrounded by strangers they have nothing in common with.

It's the same story 90% of the time unless it's people who have family already in the area who are moving back.

It won't be so bad when there are still two of you, but there will be nobody to share the strain with when the first gets sick, then after they die you will be alone in a place where nobody cares about you just when you get super needy.

Don't imagine you'll have friendly neighbours who pop in to make sure you are okay when you are alone.
People who can afford to work as carers have been long since priced out by people like you, so you'll struggle to get any home help if you need it.

They might not be rude to your face, but you will have zero goodwill when you really need it as you get older.
You are not of any benefit to the place you want to turn up when you are at your least productive and most expensive stage of your life to a community.

You are the reason a teacher has to live in a bedsit, the doctor can't treat the local guy because you took the appointment, the local primary school has to close because young families have been pushed out of the area by you.

But hey, I bet it's a pretty looking house in the pictures on a sunny day, so what could possibly go wrong?
Enjoy being old, alone and vulnerable with a great view though.

Blimey, don’t hold back

2msoundsright · 10/06/2026 16:31

Troublein · 10/06/2026 16:29

Yes you will be hated a lot.

You will be killing the place you choose and when you do finally retire, there will not be kind or helpful neighbours because of what you have done.

It is their children, their friends who will have been unhoused for your dream, so if you have a fall nobody is going to care or help you.

There is a massive shortage of doctors and hospital beds in Cornwall all year round, and they are put under tremendous pressure every tourist season.
I hope you aren't expecting to get great medical care as an incomer who helped kill another village/town and added nothing to an area for everyone who really lives there.

I've seen so many people from upcountry move down to Cornwall, then endlessly bitch they don't get tourist treatment in areas they have impoverished by inflating prices.
If you want work done, you'll struggle to find anyone because you will have priced most of those people out of the area.

I have known nurses who have to sleep in cars and RVs illegally parked because of second home owners to do their job in Cornwall - that is nurses who you expect to treat you when you come in from your dream retirement home at an age when you are more likely to put high demand on medical services.

There are usually just under 50 ambulances to cover the entire county at peak times so hope you aren't going to rely on one of those as you could be waiting days.

I know what happens to old incomers when they get sick and start bed blocking locals, as there are only just about 1100 hospital beds in the whole county including mental health beds, acute care, the lot.
They are not loved.

Book yourself funeral plans before you move down, because your retirement plan is to die alone in an area where you have left a house empty for 6 years then turned up expecting locals to stand by you and be your community after you have harmed it.
You'll then get to enjoy the airB&B scum too, who will turn up and vomit all over your property while they have a screaming drunk fight in the street and you'll feel about them the way the locals feel about you

I know Cornish people who hate anyone from the next village over and are proud they've never been more than 30 miles from home in their life.
You'll be an emmet til the day you die and if your family live far enough away, they won't bother coming down to your funeral.
Cornish nursing homes are full of old wealthy incomers who get no visitors from one end of the year til the next unless someone is concerned they have been written out of the will.
Family stay in touch for the first bit when incomers move down, but then it's just too far away from their everyday lives and there are other places they want to go in the little time off they have while their kids don't really know their distant old relatives as they hardly ever see them, so they drift away after a few years.

You'll get people coming onto your thread telling you people will love you, it's all fine etc...

I've seen your type countless times over the past fifty years, first their friends who come to visit die off or get too sick to travel so they stop visiting, then their family get caught up in their own lives, then they find they are surrounded by strangers they have nothing in common with.

It's the same story 90% of the time unless it's people who have family already in the area who are moving back.

It won't be so bad when there are still two of you, but there will be nobody to share the strain with when the first gets sick, then after they die you will be alone in a place where nobody cares about you just when you get super needy.

Don't imagine you'll have friendly neighbours who pop in to make sure you are okay when you are alone.
People who can afford to work as carers have been long since priced out by people like you, so you'll struggle to get any home help if you need it.

They might not be rude to your face, but you will have zero goodwill when you really need it as you get older.
You are not of any benefit to the place you want to turn up when you are at your least productive and most expensive stage of your life to a community.

You are the reason a teacher has to live in a bedsit, the doctor can't treat the local guy because you took the appointment, the local primary school has to close because young families have been pushed out of the area by you.

But hey, I bet it's a pretty looking house in the pictures on a sunny day, so what could possibly go wrong?
Enjoy being old, alone and vulnerable with a great view though.

Don't sit on the fence @Troublein, tell us what you really think 😂

Horses7 · 10/06/2026 16:31

MabelAnderson · 10/06/2026 15:13

I live in an area with lots of second homes. Yes we hate them. They are destroying the area .

This is why we’ve never bought a second home - not because of potential hate but because locals deserve to live in these homes (2nd homes drive up prices too so locals can’t afford to live there).

Pinkchickenwine · 10/06/2026 16:31

SecondH · 10/06/2026 15:08

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?

Done it, non issue!

Kokonimater · 10/06/2026 16:32

It kills the towns and villages. They become ghost towns in the winter. Local businesses can’t survive. It’s just not right.

Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain · 10/06/2026 16:34

Whoopiedooo · 10/06/2026 16:09

Did Wales give up on burning holiday cottages?
I know I'm showing my age.

My mum years ago went into a Welsh pub in north Wales by herself (she’s English) (my stepdad was following behind) they were speaking English when she went in but changed to speaking Welsh very quickly and ignored her. My grandma (dad’s mum) is from Abergavenny but obvs they didn’t know that.

Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain · 10/06/2026 16:38

Kokonimater · 10/06/2026 16:32

It kills the towns and villages. They become ghost towns in the winter. Local businesses can’t survive. It’s just not right.

Lots of seaside homes become ghost towns during the winter as tourists don’t go there then and the weather is bad. My parents actually do use their Broadstairs holiday house in the winter as does a friend of mine who uses his Devon holiday house all year round. He’s planning to retire there.

Kakkilakki · 10/06/2026 16:38

Where I live, 65% of the houses are second homes. A lot are rented out to tourists as holiday apartments. Most tourists here are friendly, polite and well behaved, and contribute a lot to the local economy. However a lot of houses are shuttered up, with the lights on at Christmas, Easter and two weeks in the summer only. The locals hate these ones.

The locals especially hate when second home owners bleat on about how valued they are and how much they contribute to the local economy. In the 4 weeks they are here every year.

What would actually help the local economy and community is having housing available for local families. Who would shop in the local shops and eat in the restaurants all year round. Instead, they must move elsewhere while houses sit empty.

Ncforthis2267 · 10/06/2026 16:38

I think it all depends on your attitude and commitment to the community.

I live in a Cornish village. In my little corner of my street are 3 'holiday homes'.

One is owned by a near retirement couple who are down for a week or so about once a month. They are friendly, considerate with their parking, and the husband has joined the residents committee and made some valuable contributions. No-one I'm aware of has a problem with them.

The second one has the odd Airbnb guests now and then. Never seen or met the owners. Some guests park like shit but mostly they are ok. Everyone ignores this property. Even in the recent storms nobody bothered to secure their garden furniture that got blown around and smashed up.

The third property is owned by the most obnoxious city arseholes. Again, they are down once a month or so. Always loud, always rude. Treat the communal parking area as some kind of beach equipment drying area. Universally hated.

If you're more like the first couple you'll be fine. Either of the others then forget it. Expect open hostility and low level vandalism of your shit.

TeaPot496 · 10/06/2026 16:38

A few more.. (by Steve Heller)

How hated will we be?
How hated will we be?
How hated will we be?
dottiehens · 10/06/2026 16:38

I heard Cornwall and Devon are hostile.