Second Homes

Second homes were previously mentioned in the changes to MEDC rural areas. This is a topic that is a little bit more complex and interesting than the sentence it was summed up in during the changes blog post, so I have decided to give it a post of its own.

According to the latest statistics, there are more than 250000 second homes in Britain. Second homes are generally defined as a particular form of holiday accommodation in rural areas which are beyond where one would travel for weekend recreation. They do not include mobile homes or caravans. Although the assumption is that the second home is used for a couple of weeks of the year for holidaying, second homes do encompass any home where people have their main residence elsewhere. Second homes can work in reverse to the norm; say if a person owns a house in the Lake District where they live at the weekends, and a flat in London where they live during the working week.

The demand for second homes has increased with the increasing standards of living and leisure time. Second homes are bought for many different reasons, some people buy them to appreciate the rural environment or for recreation, while others buy to invest, or for a retirement home. The growth in second home ownership has been facilitated by the increase in road networks and accessibility and with the internet age, the increased advertising of such homes.

As previously mentioned, second homes are found in rural areas which are beyond where one would travel for weekend recreation… but it is more than this. Second homes are most common in areas where:

•          They are at a considerable distance from large urban centres
•          Where the landscape quality is high
•          Close to water - two thirds of second homes are close to water
•          Where there are recreational opportunities
•          Where land is available
•          Where the climate is attractive

However, as detailed in the rural change blog, there are considerable negative impacts with second home owners. Disadvantages include:

• Local people get pushed out of the housing market. Cornwall, despite being the most popular places for second homes, is one of the poorest places in Britain. Incomes are 25% below average, yet house prices are 17% higher than national average - a clear sign that the locals are being pushed out of the housing market. This is not just a problem in Cornwall - the average urban wages are higher than that of rural wages.
• Locals in Cornwall say the life of the local communities is being dulled by empty houses which are unlit on winter nights - making the village seem a dark, desolate and unsafe place to walk through on an evening. Some residents are going as far as to leave their homes to the local housing association, as they feel that second homes (which are often left vacant) are damaging to local communities.
• Gwynedd, an area in north-west Wales, has the highest rate of people with second homes used for holidays, with 64 second home owners for every 1000 local residents. They have been noticing the societal break down and resentment from locals towards these second home owners. They note that holiday homes are far and away the largest problem in the local area. In Gwynedd, the local shops suffer because people come down the A55, go to the large national supermarket chain on the way and therefore do not buy their shopping from the local shops, which takes away income from the local community.
• The number of second home owners and those elderly people who move to rural areas can cause a strain on the services provided by the local council. This can undermine the education system and even ruin the local bus service that so many rely on.
• Roads can become congested, driving is hazardous (city drivers may not be used to the twists and turns of rural roads) and as such there are an increased number of traffic collisions.
• Agricultural land is invaded and ruined.
• The local environment may deteriorate due to increased visitor pressure.
• New buildings may not fit in with the local surroundings.

It’s not all “doom and gloom” though, there are some advantages to second homes:

• Tourism is an important income to the local economy; second home owners may well use the local café, shops and garages. One second home owner, when interviewed for the Guardian, said that second home owners get a “pretty bad press at times”. He notes that many villages were pretty run down before the second home owners arrived, and the local communities have done well from second home owners and holiday rentals. Many second home owners do get fully involved in local life; they go to the pub with their neighbours and try to mix in with the community.
• Second homes are a rational alternative for the economic development of backward rural areas. Land can be sold off for second homes at a higher price than they would sell it to locals and the rural authorities do gain some council tax from the second homes which can be used for the local community.
• Second home owners are not a burden on local services which are aimed at the permanent local residents. Taxes from the second home owners can even go into supporting the local services.
• Competition between locals and second home owners may not be as great as first thought - both will be going for very different types of properties. Second home owners are more likely to want something that is more of a challenge which they can renovate to their standards and taste.

There are some positive steps being taken to help those in rural areas. From April 2013, councils have been able to charge full council tax to holiday properties, whereas before it was capped to 50%. This should mean that places like Cornwall, who were losing approximately £2million in taxes due to holiday home discount, are better off and therefore able to put money back into helping locals and the local economy.

Ideas for teaching

Whilst searching through news articles on second homes I came across this interactive map on the Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/interactive/2012/oct/22/second-homes-england-wales-mapped

I’m not totally sure how to best utilise this resource. My initial thoughts were to use it as a group discussion point or even to aid in a class debate.

This topic on second homes would be ideal for a class debate, with half the students taking the side of the second home owners and the other half taking the side of the local residents. In upper school classes this could possibly be extended to have the role of local or national government also arguing their case.

The activity could also be done as a poster presentation, or with individuals using an A3 sheet, half of the piece of paper used to state the second home owners’ points of view and the other half stating the locals’ points of view.

References

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23059763

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b02yksnq/live

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2012/oct/22/cornwall-revealed-second-homes-hotspot

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2009/mar/21/second-homes-vandalism

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/nov/18/ruralaffairs.immigrationpolicy

Nagle, G, 2001. Advanced Geography. Oxford University Press.