If you own a second home how do you get treated by locals?

[Poiul]

Aware of the feelings towards second home owners on mumsnet. Does that contempt translate into real life is my question.

I don't, but my neighbour does. She lives In London but also has a home next door to me, used during the holidays and annual leave with the intent to retire here eventually. From a neighbours perspective I don't feel like anyone here has bad feelings toward her. We all thinks she's lovely, keep an eye on her house when she isn't here, put her bins out, take parcels in for her etc......she's treated no differently to any other neighbour by everyone on our street 🙂

My family have a holiday home and we are treated very scathingly by the ‘locals’…

… what is quite curious about the scenario, is that they are also their holiday homes. They are just more ‘local’ than us ie from the nearest city of thereabouts.

We are from London and that is unacceptable.

We have limited interaction, but when we have tried there have been many catty comments - some renovations were done recently and that seems to have rubbed some people up the wrong way.

That’s wonderful to hear.

May I ask broadly which part of the country you are?

My siblings and I have always wanted to buy a second holiday home together where we could congregate for holidays, birthdays, Christmases etc.

We’ve started looking. I would hate knowing that any neighbours viewed us negatively.

@Poiul you just can’t know or predict.

My only query on a family holiday home with lots of adult owners, is that the logistics / politics can be quite complex.

One neighbour is also a second home owner and on the other side the house is dilapidated and for small at a pretty low price. But it's hardly a tourist hot spot and property prices are generally low (over an hour from nearest city) plus judging by the massive new builds going up I suspect people prefer a large modern well insulated house over a small cold old one.
Locals are very nice, other than friends who would know if I'm a tourist in a rental or a second home owner or a standard incomer?

My in laws live in a place where there’s lots of second/holiday homes. The ‘dislike’ seems to surround the houses that people appear in for a handful of days a year- when plenty of people would love that house and they see it as a waste. There are also quite a lot of houses which are extremely unkempt due to the owners simply not being there enough for upkeep- and choosing to relax when they do visit.locals don’t like the eye sore! If you are buying with siblings I imagine it would be frequently used? And as long as you keep it nicely you should be fine!

I live in 2nd home city Arizona. No locals ever say anything to second home owners. Some say things behind people's backs though.

There are people here who have houses they literally visit for a week once a year, which I think is a waste.

My neighbour here in London is a second home owner - the flat is her occasional pied a terre when she comes in to London for meetings or socialising.

She is lovely and it is nice to have a quiet neighbour.

Seriously dont do this at the moment, dont buy a second home. By april next year you will be paying double or even triple council tax on it and this is very likely to go up even more. However much use you think its going to get trust me, it wont. you will get bored with going to the same place in time or your circumstances will change. You will pay extra stamp duty when you buy and even more tax when you sell so put it into a company dont buy it as individuals.Be really really aware of all the massive changes to this industry that there are at the moment. I guarantee you, within 3 years you will want to "airbnb" it and that brings a whole new world of pain with the fire safety guidance etc. the best way to demonstrate why this is a bad idea is to take the purchase price, divide it by 10K and thats how many holidays you could be having in other places. if its in cornwall then huge numbers are selling up at the moment becuase of the changes to both the tax laws and the fire safety guidance. Plus locals really, really dont want you, they really dont.

Of course some people will oppose you buying a second home in their area, when there's a nationwide shortage of housing. If you choose to buy a second home, you need to feel OK with that

We don’t, but my in-laws neighbour’s house is a second home. The neighbours really like her. They’re all quite close on the estate, and if the couple who own it are there in stuff, they always invite / include them.

They don’t care that it’s their second home. I think the irritation now comes from the fact that now the children have gotten older, they visit with their families. Sometimes in the summer / Christmas etc there can be 8 cars at the house, which is a nightmare for residents. I think as long as you’re consecrate, no one will care.

Second homes are decimating my community. Nearly every other house is one in the 'pretty' villages. With almost half the houses being unoccupied most of the time, you can imagine the place is a bit ghosty in the off season. We used to have a thriving community, but now our young people are forced to leave the area, and our local health services cannot recruit (well they successfully recruit but the new recruits cannot find anywhere to live).
So yes, if you moved into my area I would see you as yet another person who cares more about their personal enjoyment than the wellbeing of the community they've come into. I'd be polite to you of course, because that's what you do, but I would secretly dislike what you have done, yes. And I wouldn't hesitate to say 'oh not another one' behind your back and so would other local people. You'd never know though.

If you must buy one, my advice is to buy in an area where they make up less than 5% of the housing stock. People are far less likely to feel negative towards you if it's not putting huge pressure on local services and people's lives. Of course, this may be you don't get a pretty view.

The house next door to ours is a holiday home (small seaside village in Scotland). They are individually lovely but given locals are being priced out and the school roll is dropping...there is definitely a general issue with second homes here. The most hate is reserved for badly parked RVs though.

Writing this from my parents holiday home in France. They’ve had it for 20 years, and are finally selling up this year as it’s become too much work to maintain from a distance, and neither my sister not I are keen to take it on full time.

they’ve never experienced any negativity. But their place is not in a very touristy / pretty village, and there are only a few other Brits around - unlike some of the more picturesque places which have loads of second homes. The local community here is thriving and seems to be expanding all the time so I don’t think there’s any problem re lack of housing or high cost. Plus they always shop locally, pay their taxes and have done their best to befriend the neighbours. They also keep their place in good condition.

We have friends who live down near the Spanish border and they do report hostility from the locals - but their village now has an Irish pub and a large (and quite insular) expat presence, plus silly house prices and a lot lying empty for most of the year.

They are a nightmare in my village. They reduce the housing and push the prices up for people that actually want to live here and be part of the community. At least with the houses that are rented out as holiday lets, visitors spend money at the pub or village shop. But houses that are left empty most of the year are awful.

Next door to us in London are second home owners. When they are here, they have a lot of extended family around and it can get noisy (my bed is against a party wall) and full of cars. But they're abroad for over half the year. They're very nice people. The couple who own the house are quiet even when they're in, it's only the grandchildren who are loud. The couple don't speak much English so I don't have a lot to do with them, but they are always smiling and saying 'Hello, Neighbour' if we pass. All the younger generations are fluent in English so we wait till they're around if we have a mesage that needs passing on. We sometimes get gifts of food at iftars during Ramadan and at Eid. We give food if they're around at Christmas & Easter. That's about all we see of them. We're not a street that has street parties or anything anyway (unless the neighbours all go around each others' houses and don't invite us 😂), but if we did I'm sure they'd be as welcome as everyone else.

My parents got one in a small village and second homes have ruined the place. The school has closed, shop is gone, locals have mostly moved to the nearest big town because they can't afford to live there any more and there are no facilities. Really sad. It's like a ghost town. And it's not like it's that far from my parents actual home that they couldn't go for day trips instead. The remaining locals are always campaigning for affordable homes and to get rid of the holiday lets.

I would say, don't buy a second home now.
I've got a one bedroomed second home in a not touristy area of Scotland. There aren't huge numbers of second homes in the area. The neighbours have always been very nice.
The doubling of council tax, however, is hammering me financially. I suspect that I am not as well heeled as the majority of second home owners and can't just absorb the extra cost. It doesn't meet the standards to be rentable.
Reluctantly, I have it on the market now, very cheaply, but there is very little interest in such a small house. Even though it is very affordable for a first time local buyer.
I offered it to every HA in the area but they all said they couldn’t make capital purchases.

Where I live nobody is actively unpleasant to second home owners but we groan each time a property desperately needed by a local family is sold to somebody who spends a few weeks a year there, contributing nothing to the economy or the social life of the town.

I live in a not-massively touristy area but we're off the beaten track. There are a couple of homes which are second homes for people around here, and while I would obviously never be openly hostile to anyone, it's a fact that owning a second home is an utterly selfish thing to do. If you can live with driving up prices for people who actually want to live in an area and contribute, then crack on.

I no longer live there but grew up in a rural and coastal location. Very popular with second home owners especially those down from London. I can say hand on heart most hate second home owners. Most are like @Magnastorm and @SoNiceToComeHomeTo though in they wouldn't say anything to your face. Though when my sisters friend was approached by someone looking to buy when tending her front garden she did tell them to fuck off back to London.

In certain areas of Cornwall you will find open hostility, including unwelcoming signs and grumpiness in pubs and shops. Not to mention new housing being restricted so 2nd home owners can't buy. You're not welcome, honestly. Most are civil to your face but will absolutely bitch about you behind your back.

MIL lives next door to one. It is two semi detached cottages which are fairly isolated.

The people next door use it for a few weeks a year. Apart from the fact it is one couple taking a 3 bed family home in an area where locals have no chance, they have now started letting it to friends or friends of friends for the odd week. Thing is, the 'friends' often have no idea how to behave and have no regard for the locals at all. Things like parking on MIL's drive and refusing to move to loud parties in the garden every night. It's not their house so they don't care, are rude and entitled.

MIL is on her 80s and living off n a fairly isolated place. She has no idea who is there and I'm sure is just dismissed dad the grumpy old bag next door.

She'd never say anything but loathes the second home owners with a passion.

It's an utterly selfish, dickish thing to do. If you want a holiday retreat buy a static caravan or something which doesn't take someone's home away.

I think ideally you use a second home enough that you essentially become a local, and then no one has a problem with you. That’s the case with my friend whose family has a second home in a desirable part of Scotland- they’ve had it for like 40 years, they visit a lot, they know their neighbours and they actually spend money in the local economy. They seem to be part of the furniture.