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?

I should add, our last holiday rental in Cornwall was owned by a local who also lived in that village. It was his income.

CalamBalam But obviously there's going to be less resentment over holiday homes in countries where there aren't such massive disparities between rich and poor. Anyone can see that. I'm sure if Swedish people were told 'you can't buy or rent a house in your home village because people from Stockholm have bought up all the housing stock as holiday homes' there'd be a different take on the situation.

I think you have a very strong ideology that is preventing you from discovering the truth.

Stockholm's outlying islands which are dotted with hytte or holiday homes are amongst the most expensive real estate in the world, affordable only by the Stockholm elite or those who inherited. I don't even think there are many locals left along much of the Swedish coastline any more.

Its much more affordable to buy holiday homes in the north. The further north, and more days driving you factor in, the more affordable it is.

I don't have a particularly strong ideology. I just don't think comparing apples and oranges is particularly relevant.

I don't think there is anything immoral about it. If people want to buy 50 houses and rent them out good for them. I'd love to have a holiday home in the South of France and would if I could afford it. I can't believe a poster stopped talking to someone because they owned a holiday home. You can buy whatever property you can afford and do what you want with once you are within the law and I can't understand how that has got anything to do with anyone else.

I have a 2nd home. I don't rent it out though or anything. It's also not up North - even though I'm a Teessider. Do you want me to sell it OP?

There is obviously a difference between a holiday home that is rented out and occupied the majority of the time and one that is used only for the owners for holidays and sits empty for most of the time.

I'm interested to know how someone would justify the latter? Surely its simply greed?

Also, I am not jealous of people with holiday homes.

Why should they have to justify it and to whom should they have to justify it. What is wrong with having a holiday home near the sea for example and maybe an hour or twos drive from your home. So you work in a city have a busy life and can afford to buy somewhere where you can retreat to for long weekends or summer holidays. I honestly can't see what is wrong with this.

I don’t own a second home, couldn’t and wouldn’t.

However, I think it’s just part of a capitalist society and can’t really get too morally upset with people who do this. I do think other issues are relevant to this because it’s how our society operates.

Eg is it morally ok for one person to walk around in a designer t shirt costing £100 when there are homeless people in their town and they could wear a £20 T-shirt and donate the rest?

Is it morally ok for hotels to exist for leisure when they could house the homeless as charities?

Is it ok for a teen to walk around in a £150 pair of designer trainers when another cannot afford to replace their holey shoes?

Is it ok for a person to buy fancy food for a dinner party when they could buy 5 or 10 times the amount of basics for the food bank?

Is it ok to buy a £6k watch when some people can’t afford basics?

Is it ok to go on holiday at all when you could donate the money to charity?

Should a doctor and a nurse be paid the same?

I don't think its it's selfish to have a second home, but buyers should consider their impact before they purchase.

Where l live, there is a lot of hostility towards people with second homes. In some areas locals are priced out. It's caused a lot of resentment. I cant think that anyone in the position of wanting to buy a second home would want to do so if they weren't welcome.

I'm interested to know how someone would justify the latter? Surely its simply greed?

You could say it is more greedy to rent it out in some ways.

How could they justify it? Because they don't want to do run a holiday let business? Renting out a property is a big undertaking. You have to remove any personal and valuable items you might otherwise leave there. You have to clean it, or pay for it to be cleaned each time. You have to take bookings and deal with complaints and queries, or pay someone else to. You have to reinstate and pay for damage. Quite reasonably, people might decide they don't want the hassle, even if they might make money from it. Particularly 75 year old pensioners such as my inlaws.

one that is used only for the owners for holidays and sits empty for most of the time.

I'm interested to know how someone would justify the latter? Surely its simply greed?

More the fact they don't need to rent it to cover the costs, don't have to worry about maintenance and can use it as a real home which is available when and for how long they want to use it.

Maybe they plan to retire there in the future, maybe they just like the area and it works out cheaper to invest and buy a property there.

Some people have a huge house, some a smaller one AND a holiday home, that's their choice. Nothing to do with you.

I live in a Capital City (Not UK) and locals have been priced out of areas as each area gradually gets gentrified. I would probably be priced out of my own area now if I was buying my house today. My kids will have to move out of the area if and when they buy. Who should I blame for this? Not the people who have bought houses to rent out or the ones who can only afford to live there because they get social assistance or anyone else for that matter who has bought a house there and driven the price up. You don't get to own an area. You have no right to your children being able to afford living in that area. Prices go up in areas for many reasons must of them selfish but I don't hold that against people just because it affects me and I can't afford the same as them.

I hate holiday homes. Live in Devon (which, btw, is becoming less green by the day with all the new houses they are throwing up). Used to live in a really beautiful village. Holiday makers don't join the PTFA, don't look out for their elderly neighbours, don't volunteer at the village shop, (or even buy from the village shop...they use Sainsburys delivery ) etc etc. And the vast majority of people who owned the holiday homes were not local even if they lived locally. More likely retirees to the area who had the funds to supplement their pensions.

I get it won't change, but doesn't mean it is good for those communities.

Are second homes always bad? As someone pointed out - locals will have been able to retire on the proceeds of their sale to a second-home owner. I was born in London where my parents rented a council flat. When they wanted to buy they had to move out to a small town where housing was cheap. Housing is still relatively cheap in our town but it is no longer small - big ugly housing estates have been built without improving the facilities and infrastructure. Locals can afford to live here - but often they don't want to. Needless to say, we don't have any second-home owners!

Holiday makers don't join the PTFA, don't look out for their elderly neighbours, don't volunteer at the village shop, (or even buy from the village shop...they use Sainsburys delivery )

I would have thought it was true for most people, not just holiday makers

There is no law restricting the amount of houses a person can own or live in & whilst it may increase property prices in some areas, it does restrict noise, and neighbour noise is on the increase so there is some benefit to it....

You could equally say that having children is "selfish" due to the massive carbon footprint, effect on climate change & lack of worldwide resources...… but that won't stop people having children & often parents call childfree people "selfish".

Ultimately it depends on your definition of "selfish" and whether your actions benefit you alone, or your community, or the wider world?..

The national parks are already addressing this with new homes. I wish it went further. We could afford a second home but find it morally repugnant. Whole communities are being destroyed because of greed. 300% council tax, 10% stamp duty and draconian capital gains tax would sort it out but no government will have the guts to do it.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1481567/Outsiders-banned-from-buying-new-houses-in-Dales.html

SW here as well, I agree, it's awful for communities. Not all second home owners are from outside the area though, I know a few locals with holiday cottages by the coast or multiple properties in town.

A friend complains of similar issues in London, with lots of flats being used for short breaks. Friend has a villa in Spain.

Not sure what the answer is, I try to holiday off-peak when the hotels are below capacity.

We have a second home. There is no shortage of property for sale where our house is. We don’t rent out but do let friends and family use it.
It creates jobs because we use the restaurants and shops locally. It supports local hotels because we go for drinks or meals.
We use the ferries. We visit tourist attractions and rent a beach hut. We employ a cleaner.
It prevents property falling into disrepair and adding to the unkempt and run down feel of many coastal towns.
We’re not stopping anyone buying their own house near our holiday house. No, I don’t think it is either selfish or reprehensible. I think it supports a local community.

Because the holiday industry powers the south west and brings in much needed income?

In Cornwall holiday homes are a massive problem as there is a shortage of homes in some towns. There are new builds being being built but locals can’t afford them because the house prices are being pushed up. Some locals have moved to other areas, mainly the ones who went to university, but a lot of towns still have large fishing and farming communities and the workers need somewhere to live.

St Ives had already put a stop to new builds being used as holiday homes. And business rates loopholes are being stopped. Our county council support this and councillors are even pushing for an additional charge on top of that.

We dont have a village shop and I avoid all local committees like the plague. Do look out for aged nieghbours though.

There are many villages in the SW where come the week after october half term they are ghost towns. As onceuponatime says people owning holiday homes may well spend money in the local economy. but then so do the people that live there. we buy from shops, we eat in restaurants we do all the things holidaymakers do. but in addition we support the fabric of our village by going to the quiz evening and the ptfa fundraiser and the football club disco and the local lions/round table duck races. we help our neighbours out when they need it and thats what these communities lose. you cant knock on the door of a holiday let and ask for a jump start? Its chicken and egg with houses and jobs. if you cant afford to live in a place then you arent going to set up a small business there are you. If you have to live somewhere else and commute to your job in a tourist area as a tourism sector worker then thats not particularly green either is it. Transport is a massive issue in rural areas and not living where you work or not living where your children go to school brings huge problems. As for the "why dont locals buy then" I look at the helford river info from above. a bit of digging and you find that the average wage in cornwall is £19,500. thats the average. what sort of mortgage could a couple get on this sort of wage?

I get the point about stamp duty but thats a one off purchase cost. increased council tax would go directly to the councils in the area not a big government pot.

Its about making rural communities resilient. and that means encouraging people to live and work local, use the local schools, facilities, etc. Its not in the least bit about envy more about the gradual death of rural life. Pretty bijou villages with lots of second homes will soon become like museums with no real life going on in them. as for shopping local ask the big supermarkets about deliveries to holiday areas. its a huge part of their income now.

Lots of second home owners rent the properties out, so actually they are often full year round of visitors, who in turn bring income to the area, increase employment as more visitors often means more visits to shops, pubs, restaurants, tourist attractions etc. Would you want that to stop so areas die, more unemployed, less income, shops, pubs cease trading etc etc

mummymeister increased council tax would go directly to the councils in the area not a big government pot.

But how are you going to encourage all those mugs in cities to spend their already highly taxed income in the UK, as opposed to say, Spain?

In fact, what inducements are we going to offer as a country to all those mugs in cities who can't even have a reasonably priced holiday in a house they pay for in their own country? How do we encourage those mugs to keep working and paying tax if we keep taking stuff away from them?

What about people who want to buy a holiday home in a community their grandparents had to leave in order to find work?

Surely a better system of planning than zoning, which favours big developers, would go a long way towards solving the housing crisis in such communities? Particularly encouraging self build in areas which are popular for holiday homes, and offering grants for it and restrictions on selling once built.