To think that owning a second home to use as a holiday home is extremely selfish?

[benadrylcucumberpatch]

It would be a different story if there was a surplus of vacant properties . As it stands holiday home owners turn communities into ghost towns, inflate prices in desirable areas (many of which are rural with low wages) and displace people who would live in the property full time.

Aibu to think this is selfish and reprehensible? Why are such people not villified for taking more than they need in such an extreme way?

"Surely most people see that's a problem?"

Yes, but are property prices the only part of the problem?

As I said, in my family village many cottages have been bought as holiday homes, and this has undoubtedly put up prices of cottages (less effect on non quaint housing). But many of the people who can't afford to buy them can't afford it because of the loss of jobs, and low incomes in seasonal, agricultural and fishing industries.

Younger people have moved away...and where have many of them moved to? London. Where property prices are much much higher than the village they left.

The issue is deeper than second homers putting up prices.

And who sold them all these cottages at inflated prices????

Yes @WhenOneFacePalmDoesntCutIt, I have read the post - and your goady responses, of which you should be thoroughly ashamed.

yes dear

Don't believe we get higher incomes abroad? What a sheltered existence...

Alsohuman
I will never be ashamed to use sarcasm to reply to such a bitter and angry post. I even toned it down a lot to keep in line with the spirit of this site

clearly you don't work hard enough or you are in the wrong job, what can I say

You're deluded, insensitive and just plain wrong.

Say that to the nurse who treats you at the hospital next time you're there, or the people who teach your children, the police officers and fire men who keep us safe and all the other important jobs that are necessary for our society but are paid a fucking pittance.

NK Fell I live in the Lake District in a popular 'holiday' area. I honestly worry for my children, that they might need to move away just to afford a place to live. The local economy doesn't support the cost of the houses or costs of living.

But every single person I know has moved for work. Surely that's what most people do? How many jobs are there in the Lake District outside farming and tourism related work? Its the same old choice - you live somewhere scenic and don't earn much, or you move to a hellhole sorry city and have a hellish daily commute but earn more. But the people who do the latter generally pay more tax because they earn more and you can't keep demonising them, its ridiculous and unfair, you have to allow them some rewards for taking those steps to put more money into the economy.

I live in a coastal town and commute to Brussels once a month for a week with work, otherwise working remotely. I'm very lucky. DH commutes has a 110 mile round trip by car commute to the nearest city but rents a scruffy room midweek to make it bearable. We all make our sacrifices. He's constantly tired. If he were to buy a studio flat in the city he works in, it would be classified as a second home and we worked out he would need to put down £35,000 deposit, stamp duty and conveyancing fees. Its just not worth paying that in order just to work.

The coastal town in which I live has few industries and well paid jobs, and there appears to be a peculiar stagnation amongst the women I talk to here. They will all say there are no decent jobs, but none of them would consider higher education or commuting to the city to work. Yet clearly it is possible. Yet DH is penalised by having a hellish commute to have a well paid job and cannot afford to buy in the city in which he works to make life more bearable because of prohibitive taxes.

The Government needs to stop centralising everything to the cities and revitalising rural areas. There is no local bus service to the local town I live close to, there are no pavements to walk on, there is very little in return for your tax if you live in a rural area and are not on benefits. In terms of basic infrastructure I mean.

Look at CEO pay gaps. Yes, the CEO of a large corporation works hard - does he (and it usually is 'he') really work more than 300 times harder than his lowest paid employees?

I owned a second home in Cornwall,sold it last year.

I stayed in it often,as did my family.

I shopped locally,employed local tradesmen when I needed work doing.Cornwall would be in a sorry state without tourists and second home owners,the income they bring in,is how the County survives.

I worked hard for what I earnt,served in the British Army for years,I won’t have anyone else telling me what I should or shouldn’t do with my money.

I have found a lot of people are jealous of people who have worked hard to be financially stable,it doesn’t happen by chance.

ItsBloodyFreezingg

my reply was directed to the very irate poster...

I have teacher/policemen/nurses friends who all manage to own their home btw, but like me, they can't afford central London, that's life. They don't all work there anyway!

I get your point op, but where would people stay for their holidays if there weren’t privately owned holiday homes?

I'm a long term renter but if I had enough money I 'd buy a holiday home before a home in the UK. My LL has multiple BTL properties and I have been in my current home for 10 years at well below the market value. I live in a university town and it is very difficult for families to rent as HMO properties have exploded and are rented per room. IMO this is much more prohibitive and is getting worse; huge blocks of student accommodation are being erected in what was once residential areas, greatly overinflating land prices and homes are not being built.

"you are taxed
For a second home. It’s called stamp duty. And when you sell you pay capital gains tax. "

yes - but these taxes go to Central Gvt (unlike council tax). Rural and coastal communities are often the ones most deprived of the investment that would solve the problems of sparse and low paid employment.

@heath48, sometimes it does happen by chance. Take me, for example. Right place, right time for my first professional job with a manager who liked me, mentored me, promoted me and set me up for a massive promotion in my next job. That was total luck and kicked off a successful career. I’ve worked no harder than many, many people who have earned a fraction of my salary, hence my irritation at the relentless correlation here between hard work and affluence.

Live and let live. It's very common for children not to be able to afford to live where their parents do. It's not all about second homes.

@mummymeister I had a holiday let and I certainly did pay council tax.
@verticality why are landlords bad? There will always be people who need to rent: students; people on short term contracts; people who choose not to buy; people who can’t afford to buy. None of my tenants want to buy. Where do you think they should live?

I also find it really odd that people seem to think that their dc will choose to live in the immediate area that they grew up in. Unless you live in Central London it is very that most people relocate for work.

I live near a very popular coastal town that has villages of second homes that are ghost towns in the winter. The fact is that there are no jobs in the locality and the weather is so bad that no one would want to live there all year round. They are mostly townhouses with tiny courtyard gardens, ie designed as summer homes rather than permanent homes.

@WhenOneFacePalmDoesntCutIt

Clearly you don't work hard enough or you are in the wrong job, what can I say.

Must be wonderful to be in your world of good fortune and fluff... What's it like there, all snug and cosy and comfy?

God HELP you if you are thrown into bad fortune and financial ruin.

Words fucking fail me, seriously!

Agree with @gingerbreadsprinkle some people on here have a sheltered, privileged, sugar-coated existence, and fuck me with a banjo does it show!

WhenOneFacePalmDoesntCutIt

clearly you don't work hard enough or you are in the wrong job, what can I say.

---------------------

@ItsBloodyFreezingg

You're deluded, insensitive and just plain wrong.

Say that to the nurse who treats you at the hospital next time you're there, or the people who teach your children, the police officers and fire men who keep us safe and all the other important jobs that are necessary for our society but are paid a fucking pittance.

Well said! The posts by this particular poster are somewhere between fucking hilarious, and MASSIVELY offensive and cruel. She should be ashamed actually. VERY ashamed.

I am ignoring this individual from now on.

When we were first married (1980s) we had an old cottage in a rural area. It was quaint but basic. When it came to moving we couldn't get anyone local interested. We sold to a couple as a holiday home and were glad to do so.

I don't understand this "right" to live where you grew up. I certainly couldn't afford to live where I am originally from - that's not a coastal place, but in the commuter belt.

As others have said, a local sold the seaside/Lakes properties in the first place! Not all "locals" are lovely - just as many greedy b'tards there as anywhere else.

And what would happen if all these locals were reinstalled in "their" cottages? Fishing? Yep. Tin mining? Yep.

I agree that council tax "avoidance" should be stamped out. Too many people pretending their second home is rented out commercially. Council tax should be trebled on second homes. And no short-term Airbnb-ing which wrecks an area for all.

user1491678180
it is a much happier life not to be bitter and angry all the time, I give you that. You should try.

Btw, since when were all nurses/teachers/police paid a pittance?

I love my holiday home and hope to retire there. The family that sold it to mr we're happy too, not many local buyers for that type of property.

@WhenOneFacePalmDoesntCutIt, it makes you much more attractive not being a goady fucker, give it a go.

Mine was even built AS a holiday home (by the Victorians).