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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

not to understand why people buy holiday homes

52 replies

azazello · 15/06/2010 16:27

I just don't get it. Pils have a holiday home which they use for 6 weekends a year and occasionally a summer holiday. Why not stay in a lovely hotel or hire a cottage or something.

At least then you're not pricing local people out of the market thereby destroying the life and soul which attracted you to it in the first place and without having to pay 2 mortgages. 2 lots of council tax, bills etc. Why do people do it?

OP posts:

Quattrocento · 15/06/2010 20:50

I think that if you make a loss on furnished holiday lettings in the UK (not abroad) you can set this off against your income tax. Perhaps this is what they were thinking of. Alternatively it might be that they were thinking that property income could bolster up your income in retirement. Dunno

Yes, site fees problematic, also local taxes have to be paid (and you have to work out how to pay them which caused us some difficulty).

MisSalLaneous · 15/06/2010 21:07

If I had the money, I would have loved to buy a piece of land that had some privacy (e.g. woodland / difficult to get to part of an island), and just build a really basic little house / hut on it. Then go there once or twice a year to get away from everything. You don't get that in a hotel, and the odd places that do offer that kind of experience is difficult to find and even if you can, it more often than not costs a fortune.

ifancyashandy · 15/06/2010 21:17

Parents had one all through my childhood / till my mid 30's. Bought them totally derelict, did them up, enjoyed them for a while, then sold them (usually back to locals) and used profit to buy same same but different again.

Meant we always had a holiday home (once Dad had finished the building - I tended to avoid them until this point ) and they made a nice tidy nest egg for their retirement. They hate not having one now (they've moved to the area we always had the 2nd home).

Bloody marvellous they are (2nd house AND my parents!)

wedlocked · 15/06/2010 21:25

We have a second house in the South of France. Half of my family live nearby so that's good, and even if we go only twice a year it's a lovely thing to do. I like that my son has been brought up with homes in both countries.
If you can afford it and it is not harming anyone why not?
I spend a lot of money there, speak French and our place is in a city so not 'corrupting' village life at all.
I can't see any problem.
Why not just enjoy your PILs place OP and not make them feel bad about it?

isthatporridgeinyourhair · 15/06/2010 22:03

I live in north norfolk where we have a large proportion of holiday properties, particularly in villages on the coast. We also have huge housing waiting lists for properties in those areas from families wanting to live in the areas where they work and originate from. Property is those areas is very very expensive and people who live and work in the area cannot afford to buy and there are very few private rentals. Many of these villages are now deserted during the winter and have lost a lot of local facilities like schools.

Whilst properties that are rented out are valuable to the local economy through tourism, properties which are purely 2nd homes do not contribute to the community in the same way, becasue most of the time they are unoccupied.

IMO there does need to be a balance struck between permanent residents, holiday homes and 2nd homes, otherwise the community simply mummifies and the things which people found attractive, disappear.

moondog · 15/06/2010 22:07

Greedy
Too much hassle
Boring to go to same place year in, year out.
Oh and this fond belief that you are 'part of the community'.
Er, no you're not.
People just think you are an arse.

ifancyashandy · 15/06/2010 22:35

Not greedy - provided a pension for my parents (thus allowing their state pensions to be redistributed)
Not hassle - had everything we needed there.
Not boring - went all over the area / went to other places just as much. This was more a weekend place / breaks but not main holiday.
Didn't believe we were part of the community - but did make some friends who din't think we were an arse (nice touch btw ).

And by renovating more than one completely derelict, 16th century house (no electricty / plumbing/ roof), we hopefully added to the villages.

sarah293 · 16/06/2010 08:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

MrClaireKhaw · 16/06/2010 08:26

Hey Quattro, you are the number one suspect that everyone thinks Claire Khaw is, apparently you and her have similar views. ...

According to her fb page.

expatinscotland · 16/06/2010 09:07

'Hey Quattro, you are the number one suspect that everyone thinks Claire Khaw is, apparently you and her have similar views. ...

According to her fb page.'

Anyone who believes that is a fool. After all, Claire's a troll. No surprise she/he'd pin it on someone and name them, as a sick stalker that he/she is.

expatinscotland · 16/06/2010 09:07

'Hey Quattro, you are the number one suspect that everyone thinks Claire Khaw is, apparently you and her have similar views. ...

According to her fb page.'

Anyone who believes that is a fool. After all, Claire's a troll. No surprise she/he'd pin it on someone and name them, as a sick stalker that he/she is.

nymphadora · 16/06/2010 09:42

We would love a holiday home but I have the guilt thing about 'local homes for local people' especially coming from the lakes where its so common. We would be letting it when we weren't there but still would be a problem.

We talk about places we visit regularly as we rent cottages when we get there anyway but its all imaginary as we can't affors it at the moment anyway!

MrClaireKhaw · 16/06/2010 10:57

No I'm not naming anyone, just thought it highly amusing that Quattro (a well respected working Mum who believes in the right for women to work) would be accused of being Claire Khaw, who thinks women should have babies very young and aspire to look after their husbands.

And they are fools.

Expat....sorry you are wrong, I am not a troll. I have namechanged, and can't be arsed to change back yet, so that CK and her sycophants can't trace their leak.

jeee · 16/06/2010 11:02

My parents wound up with a second home by accident (long story), so decided to sell it and buy a holiday home. They bought a nice family bungalow in North Devon and spend about 4 months of the year there. They enjoy it. Mum goes surfing on Christmas Day. The rest of the extended family use it.

BUT, and it's a big but, it can't really be justified. It is part of the system that pushes up the price of houses for first time buyers.

In the meantime, however, we continue to have free holidays in North Devon.

Original poster

azazello · 16/06/2010 11:10

Partly I think I'm a bit jealous. Pils won't let us use their holiday home when they're not there as well so it is completely unoccupied for most of the time. It also is rather too close to anunfenced lake for my very active 3yo and 7mo so I don't think we'll be going there any time soon. I also love planning holidays and deciding where to go, packing etc so it would take away a lot of the fun for me.

I just get a bit bemused when they say they are part of the local community etc when they are barely there and e.g. bring big bags of shopping with them because there isn't a Waitrose nearby . Or it might just be that on this one issue the otherwise lovely pils are twats .

OP posts:

FunkyMonkey1983 · 16/06/2010 11:14

"hire a cottage or something. At least then you're not pricing local people out of the market"

Isn't that a bit contradictory? In my experience those that hire out their cottages don't live in the local area and it's their 2nd home?

mayorquimby · 16/06/2010 11:21

Because they're great to have if you can afford them.
I love our families one in Spain. If I'm low on cash then once I've paid for flights and car rental I can have as cheap or as dear a holiday as my means allow.
My parents use it all the time so we're definitely getting out moneys worth out of it and if any family or friends want a break all they have to do is borrow the keys.

lionheart · 16/06/2010 11:24

jeee, your mother must be a hardy soul.

expatinscotland · 16/06/2010 12:26

'Expat....sorry you are wrong, I am not a troll.'

Mr, sorry, but try reading my entire posts before saying 'you are wrong'.

Because I didn't write that you were a troll, but that Claire was.

And as for your name change, pretty ill-advised, tbh.

ilovemydogandMrObama · 16/06/2010 12:30

We have a friend who has a 2nd home in Cornwall. We visit. A lot.

SexyDomesticatedDad · 16/06/2010 12:33

Possibly will look into buying somewhere in France - think there lots of advantages and need to think about the cons too. Overall though if we can afford it then we'll go ahead.

Thing1Thing2 · 16/06/2010 13:18

We have a holiday home in the South of France.

We go there for weekends (before the kids) and for half terms. So its never our main summer holiday.

There is loads to do in the local area and so we never get bored. And its lovely just to walk into our local town for coffee or whatever.

We don't rent it out - but do lend it out to friends so it is rarely empty during the summer / christmas.

We love it.

We have no mortgage on it and so we will have an asset to sell when we are old and need the dosh.

EnglandAllenPoe · 16/06/2010 13:26

here is much confusion about what 'holiday homes' are - most are holiday lets that bring in tourist £s into those villages. very few are are kept for the exclusive and occasional use of a single family.

if you were looking for a culprit for the closur of local services, i'd look at restrictive planning that prevents the building of new homes in the countryside, and means a reduced and older population (with fewer people living per house, you need more houses to maintain the same population level..). It is actually easier for a farmer to build holiday lets (as there is a 'commercial benefit' argument), than for someone to get permission to build house for their adult kids to live in...

although my family has never had a holiday home as such, we had a caravan we went to most weekends and holidays throughout my childhood. Fabulous

isthatporridgeinyourhair · 16/06/2010 14:35

EAP - in the villages in coastal north norfolk second homes, i.e not a "holiday let" account for a third properties in the village. In these villages the average home costs £195k which means prices are 83% higher than rest of the area average. Combined with the fact that average household income is £28,000, that has to have a fairly signifigant impact on people wanting to buy in their local village, surely?

Quattrocento · 18/06/2010 21:33

Sorry to be late back to this - busy working

Let me get this straight. Claire Khaw says she is me? Or that I am her? Where?

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