Holiday Home

[coulditbeme2323]

Does anybody have any experience of having a hoiday home with young kids?

We have a part of the country we love, and a home in our favorite part has come up. The agent has said they don't often come up and whilst I appreciate agents don't always tell the truth - I haven't seen many of them.

We have 3 kids 12 and under so wouldn't be able to use during term time.

Here is info that might be relevant.

1. It's only 1hr20 from our home so could use it for as long weekend.
2. We wouldn't air bnb it or anything - but close friends and family could use.
3. We travel abroad a fair bit in summer holidays.

It feels a few years too sign, but in just over ten years we will have 3 kids at uni and could use it lots.

Thoughts?

We have a holiday flat by the coast in an area where one of us grew up. Our teenage daughter loves being there and often brings friends. We feel much happier and more relaxed there and as our daughter approaches Uni etc will go there even more. Having a flat is much easier as lock and leave, no garden etc. Friends and family use it but we do not rent it.
Whilst not getting into an ideological discussion... locals in the area concerned do not have an issue with second home owners, we pay double council tax which massively assuages any guilt and actually eat and drink out, rent boats etc most of the time when there so actually spend far more in that local economy than at "home".
It is a big and expensive decision but one we do not regret. We still do one or two big holidays a year but breaks tend to be there.

Oh so it is impossible that locals might want to buy a premium property?

That is a daft comment.

Lovely, where abouts?

Impossible no, but it's not a family home or flat in any way shape or form.

I’m against second homes if they are the type of accommodation and environment that should be a permanent main home for someone.

Obviously that’s not a consideration for you so as long as you can afford it then buy it (or not 🤷‍♀️).

The problem is that individuals look out for their needs not the needs of the community. I can understand. Would you want to take 50 - 100k off your property value for someone else's benefit? And would the person their buying from be willing to do the same?

This is a problem that needs handling at a national level not blaming individuals who are trying to navigate a crazy housing market.

This is a vicious circle though. If I want to move house to a different house within my local area, I am forced to price my property at open market value, because whichever house I buy will be too. If locals were to sell to locals only (or other people who genuinely wanted to live and work in the area) we would all have to be "in on it" and something written in to our deeds to prevent selling on at OMV. It's not that easy.

If you have to sell a home due to a death as an executor you have to sell it for the best price you can for the beneficiaries. So no, not always.

So it isn't somewhere that any out of a couple / a family/ a retired couple or anyone else might live.

However it is big enough for you and grown up children to visit regularly.

I can't possibly think of any building that applies.

Actually if you are talking of a mobile home in a caravan park with restrictions on how much of the year you live there then it is at least less morally abhorrent. There are still issues but I withdraw the level of condemnation.

I grew up in a village that is now dead. I hate seeing it when I go back. There are less than 20 houses that still have locals living there and they are likely to have to move soon because of the lack of services.

No - it's a 1.3 million 3 bedroom flat so no I don't think it's a family home at all.

Sure, a retired couple might want to live in it - but at that price point nothing is stopping them.

I’m assuming your second home isn’t in Wales OP. The Welsh government have,thankfully, clamped down hard.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/may/19/owners-second-homes-wales-council-tax-tourism-communities

It's not.

Can't help but think you're playing with the good people on MN OP

We had one for a good few years when the kids were young and it was fabulous!!

Long weekends whenever we wanted, and the school holidays whenever we could. We also let family and friends use it.

We had a second set of everything there already, including clothes, so we would finish work on a Friday, jump in the car and head off. it was a 90 minute drive and we were there by about 6pm on Friday evening, straight to the sea front, chippy tea and a chill out. And then two full days there and back home early Sunday evening ready for bath time and bed. Bliss!!

If you can afford it, why not?

No, I am just tired of people giving their opinions on a question I didn't ask.

If people want to discuss the morality of holiday homes, then nothing is stopping them making a thread.

I came here with a specific question.

Could you walk to the sea?

south coast but not Devon or Cornwall

Not really as the kids would moan about the walk 😂But we would just drive straight to the town first (5 mins from the house) and have a chippy tea on the sea front. Let the kids play on the beach a bit and then head straight to the holiday home.

The kids loved it. When they were a bit older we let them bring friends too occasionally.

The beauty of it is you can go when and how often you like. It wasn't always an option if the kids had Birthday parties or we had other stuff on but we did definitely get a lot of use out of it.

Nice

I don't see why that isn't a family home. Yes a home for a family with money but some people LIKE to live in flats. Especially with older children.

Sorry but my condemnation is in full force. You are being selfish.

I have a second home in an area I grew up in. I use it as a holiday let primarily and then we as a family visit when we can. It’s not worked out for us in terms of work/kids/life - getting there is tricky with other commitments and although the kids have some happy memories of it I don’t think it would’ve been vastly different from just taking them on holidays.

Running your second property as a holiday let is a different kettle of fish and is fraught with problems. If you already have a demanding job I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s a lot of work and stress and some people are never happy.

For the naysayers about second homes, the house was on the market for three years before we brought it, no local person had shown any interest. The guests have been there all year round and have contributed £££s to the local economy. Many of my local friends and relatives make money out of tourism (and yes that means renting out houses that local families could live in) because beyond a small amount of local work there isn’t much that was going to fund a large mortgage on a big house.

The decimation of public services in areas like mine is more complicated than blaming second home owners. I suggest you lobby your council to charge more council tax or place covenants allowing only local people to purchase which happens in the county I come from. Its made no difference there. There’s hundreds of houses for sale there now and no-one is buying them locals or otherwise.

I’ve out my house on the market now and I will sell it to the highest bidder because my priority is my children’s future.

Ok.

My brother has just completed on a house in the part of the country they love. It’s quite a drive and a ferry to get to so weekends would be difficult but they still do it. They will be renting it out for part of the year to help fund it. They are lucky that the house has an annex so they can use it even if rented out but if they invite family, would need both side. I would love to have something like this, and 1:20 drive is fine, even on a normal weekend.

What’s the specific question (sorry, I couldn’t see one).

Unless it was your first sentence in the OP, in which case everyone who has or had a holiday home with kids will have different experiences.

Why don’t you just buy it if you want it and can afford it?

To see if people got the use out of it, I certainly didn't ask about the ethical issues of second homes.

We are going to view Tuesday.