We arrived on Exmoor just before dark, after an epic traverse of southern
England. We say it’s four hours from London, indeed from almost anywhere,
but, in reality, it’s more like six. I pulled into the yard, cut the engine
and my pulse slowed. A bright crescent moon was rising over the barn. The
nettles were high by the front door. As I opened the larder, a cloud of
bluebottles buzzed in my hair, and there was an affronted rustling: a mouse,
happily nesting in the flour bin, looked at me, beady-eyed and unafraid, as
if to say, “What are you doing here?”
Good question, I admit. This farmhouse on Exmoor is a second home. We spend
most of our time in the capital, coming down to west Somerset only for
holidays and half terms. Although this means I am one of the 350,000 lucky
Britons estimated to own a second home here, my good fortune also apparently
makes me a social pariah.
Even though almost all our MPs own at least one second home in their
constituency – I’ve always wondered whether this has prevented yet more
punitive legislation – and are all too happy to own up to drug-taking or
homosexual-ity, owning a second home is now the lifestyle that dares not
speak its name. We are blamed for the closure of post offices, schools and
GPs’ surgeries, foot-and-mouth disease, the hunting ban, the floods – you
name it – even though second homes make up only about 1% of the housing
stock.
While researching this article, I spoke to several second-homeowners,
including the head of a charity, a left-wing columnist and the editor of a
newspaper. All of them said their homes had changed their lives for the
better and claimed to be active members of the local community. None,
however, was prepared to be quoted by name – not even the chairman of the
Second Home Owners’ Club. Their reticence is not surprising: second-homers
and incoming businesses in Westmorland and Cornwall have been on the
receiving end of death threats. A group calling itself the Cornwall National
Liberation Army has threatened to fire-bomb the county’s two famous
eateries: Rick Stein’s Seafood Restaurant in Padstow and Jamie Oliver’s
Fifteen, near Newquay. So I write these words with a slightly trembly hand.
When we do visit, sometimes for months at a time, we too use local shops and
services, and we depend completely on local plumbers and builders when the
loo breaks and the roof leaks. Since buying the house in 2001, we have used
a local carpenter to renew all the woodwork in the yard; a job that ran into
five figures.
That might sound defensive and self-justifying, coming as it does from the
co-owner of two houses. But, at a time when the government is planning to
build 3m new homes (many of them on flood plains) to address the crippling
problems of affordable housing, especially for first-time buyers, what else
can I say in my defence?
Well, how about the fact that we bought the place off my father to stop it
leaving the family and also to preserve the integrity of this ancient hill
farm in the national park, where there are only three habitations, all of
them lived in by close relatives (scary, but true). That I bought my home,
sweet second home in the place where my family has lived for generations – I
spent much of my childhood on the estate and went to the village school.
That the skilled workers we use also worked for my father, and worked and
drank with my grandfather, a local farmer. That I won’t go anywhere else, if
I can help it.
Over the past few years, the government has added to the cost of second-home
ownership. Following pressure from the anti-second-home lobby, local
authorities are now allowed to increase the council tax paid by
second-home-owners from 50% to 90% of the full rate, provided the extra
revenue raised is spent creating affordable housing for local people. (In
reality, it often isn’t.) Also, unlike with a primary residence, any profit
made when selling is liable for capital gains tax.
This does not go far enough for some: the Affordable Rural Housing Commission,
set up by the government two years ago, has said that anyone buying a
property for use as a second home should have to apply to the planners for a
change of use. It has also called for an “impact tax” to be imposed on
second-homeowners in what it calls “specific honey-pot areas”. The proposals
are being studied by Sir Michael Lyons as part of his review of local
government.
But we live in a market- not a command-economy, which means we should be free
to spend our money as we wish. The state has not – yet – banned a daughter
from buying property on her father’s estate (if you like the idea of that
sort of place, you’d love North Korea). According to the experts, even if
the state did, it would not solve the housing crisis anyway.
“Steps to provide new affordable housing with restrictions on occupation are
far more likely to be an effective means of ensuring that sufficient stock
is retained for people employed in the local economy, than measures designed
to discourage second-home ownership in existing stock,” says Lucian Cook,
head of residential research at Savills.
I do hope he’s right. Another thing, rarely mentioned, is that the reason a
lot of second homes are second homes is not because the rich are buying them
up with their bonuses and distorting the local market, but that their sheer
inaccessibility means few people would honestly want them as first homes.
The appeal of many such properties is that they act as decompression chambers
from the routine of daily life. As the chairman of the Second Home Owners’
Club says: “We invest in the areas and lavish attention on houses that, if
it weren’t for us, would be a toss-up between desertion and dereliction.”
Many second homes – like mine – are miles from the nearest shop, up a rutted
track, and have no central heating, wall-to-wall carpeting or multiple
ensuite bathrooms. The conditions are, shall we say, primitive. When townie
friends come to stay, I warn them: “It’s one up from camping.”
I can’t think of many full-time takers for this place, and I can’t think of
any who would love it half as much as I do.
www.second-homes.org
Somewhere for the weekend...
... from London
On a good day, Bell Lane Cottage in Great Milton, the same village as Le
Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons, a few miles from the M40, is just over an hour’s
drive from the capital. Or you can catch the train to Oxford, eight miles
away, and hop in a cab. The 18th-century thatched cottage has three double
bedrooms, two bathrooms, two reception rooms and a one-bedroom annexe with a
shower above the garage, which is suitable for extra guests or could be
converted into a small home office. The interior is a little dated, but
easily touched up. For sale for £575,000, with Hamptons; 01865 512332, www.hamptons.co.uk
... from Manchester
Cross the border and tuck into fantastic sea views and a rack of Welsh lamb
with laver bread. The town of Llandudno, a two-hour drive along the A55,
between the castellated town of Conwy and the sweeping sands of Colwyn Bay,
has become increasingly popular with the Cheshire set. This three-bedroom
flat, one of nine in the converted and recently renovated Bodlondeb Castle,
has a dining room and kitchen area, two ensuite bathrooms, plus two private
parking spaces. For sale for £399,950, with Anthony Flint; 01492 877418, www.anthonyflint.co.uk
... from Newcastle
On the edge of Northumberland National Park, in the tiny hamlet of Snitter,
North Croft Cottage was once owned by the local parcel-and-mail carrier.
Dating back to 1828, it has two bedrooms, a bathroom and two downstairs
rooms with beamed ceilings and an inglenook fireplace. There’s no garden to
speak of, so the owners rent one nearby. Fifteen miles from Alnwick, it is a
50-minute drive to Newcastle. The price has just been reduced by £14,000,
and it could let for up to £400 per week. For sale for £185,000, with George
F White; 01665 603581, www.georgefwhite.co.uk
... from Birmingham
Overlooking the village duck pond in Willersey, Worcestershire, Pool End is
your typical Cotswold cottage. The Grade II-listed property has two double
bedrooms and a beamed sitting room, complete with mullioned leaded-light
windows and a decorative stone fireplace. Outside, it has a small lawned
garden with blooming herbaceous borders, clematis and copper beech trees,
plus a garage. It is 1.5 miles from Broadway and six from Evesham, where
there are mainline train services. For sale for £435,000, with HaymanJoyce;
01386 858510, www.haymanjoyce.co.uk
What a self centered person trying to justify her selfish and greedy urban upper middle class ideal. What makes people so incensed about the upper middle class Londoners buying second homes is there air of superiority and patronizing assumption that they can buy a second home because they are wealthy, they work hard, and are more intelligent than country folk (or so they think), yes there is a small percentage of locals that do not have the ability or motivation to work hard, but for a large amount of us country folk who want to live near to where we were raised we are pushed out buy foreigners (non locals) a high percentage of us 20/30 something's have the ability,motivation,drive,intelligence, and education to cut it in London's big business but we choose not to live the false London middle class lifestyle and live and work hard in the country near our friends and family.
George, Norwich, Norfolk
Second home owners from the Media and chattering classes annoy me most.They pontificate all week about all kinds of social problems and how they can empathise with it all and then off they go at the weekend glad to be rid of steaming pot where they get their bread.I could recommend a few situations where they could earn their so called socialist colours.
John Harrison, Boston,
Oh, I soooo admire Ms Johnson for enjoying 'practically camping' in a house with no central heating or wall to wall carpets. Sounds like my house actually, and my friends houses, and we are locals. Does she live on a different planet or something?
Most people dont have the opportunity to buy somewhere that has been in their family for a long time.
Most people cant afford to live permanently in their home locality, forget about on a part time basis, and this is largely because of people like her.
Many people dont even have a first home, let alone a second, and whilst she has a right to spend her money as she sees fit, having a home is a fundamental human right, not just a financial right.
Oh, her self justification makes me sick. Maybe she should try living like us normal people for a little while.
joanie willett, St Austell, Cornwall
MPs should feel no compulsion to declare their sexuality either way, unless relevant to policies they are advocating. They should, however, be required to declare prominently how many homes they own and why. The electorate, especially those priced out of the property market and forced to live with parents or move from six month tenancy to six month tenancy, deserve to know what level of social awareness those they are called upon to elect have.
Graham, Oxford, UK
Why shouldn't MPs be happy to 'own up' to homosexuality?
Alice, London,
Owning 2 or 3 homes is a privilege, a selfish luxury not a right. With millions of people throughout the world without decent roofs over the heads, such homeowners should bow their heads in shame. 2nd homeownership is flaunting wealth, so if you can afford to buy 2nd/3rd homes you can afford to pay triple.quadruple council tax.
Baz, Gloucestershire,
Well, if you work hard on it, you deserve to get it. Why can't I buy something with my own money? I pay tax, work day and night (harder than a lot of people) so I can afford second home. For what? well, it is none of anybody's business..
Claire, Aberdeen,
Not jealousy, very much logic. It doesn't matter how hard the second home owners try to justify their position, it won't wash when applied to such a crowded country. You can't own two or more homes (pushing overall house prices up in the process) when others have none. Imagine how far I would get if I tried to argue that, if ill, I should have two hospital beds, one for immediate occupation and one kept empty in reserve for me to move to some days or weeks hence. Secure, reasonably affordable housing should be a basic human right and, as with other human rights, it may mean that others have to be forced to act responsibly. Second homes and BTLs should be taxed to the hilt, before the property hoarders destroy not only local communities but large parts of the whole social fabric, as a whole generation is denied housing with long term security of tenure.
Clive, Chichester, UK
This article and most of the comments defy belief. The patronising and one eyed attitudes of these correspondents show that most of the urban population will claim that the effects of their actions, the death of rural village life, are in fact a justification for second home ownership!
Young people in rural areas would jump at the chance to own property close to where they grow up no matter how "primitive" the accommodation is. The excuse that second home owners bolster the local economy is only true for the period they are actually there, leaving that potential source of income empty for the other 48 weeks of the year.
The only way to try and enable the rural population to flourish is to require change of use planning permission so that second homes are only allowed where they would benefit the wider community. These areas do need the tourism industry but having entire villages made in to ghost towns for most of the year is to the detriment of the country as a whole.
WF, Bodmin,
So many of these comments seem driven by resentment.
As someone who lives in the South Devon I recognise that the majority of second home owners have actually benefited our economy by investing here, the properties are let to holidaymakers who spend a lot of money in local businesses and help our communities survive, without tourism and investment in the same we are doomed, WAKE UP TO THE FACTS.
The number of homes which actually sit empty all year in the total picture is very small, the purchase of these homes has made no difference whatsoever to the house prices here, our house prices are driven up by the total demand for living in a nice part of the UK, which includes huge numbers wanting to move here from other parts of the UK, but that’s personal choice, which is what we all want in our lives, we all want freedom of choice, so stop getting on the backs of people exercising their own personal choices, we need our council & government to encourage more affordable housing.
Iain, South Devon, UK
I'm not speaking as a second home owner - I can't afford it and I probably couldn't be bothered with the hassle anyway - but surely the reason so many properties became available in the beautiful parts of the UK many correspondents are writing from is because the local poplulation upped sticks to find work elsewhere. All the locations I can think of off the top of my head, such as Pembrokeshire, north Norfolk, South Shropshire, the Yorkshire dales, would have had communities which were largely agriculture-centric. The decline of British agriculture and migration to urban centres meant that properties became vacant. Villages could adapt or crumble away to nothing. It might not seem ideal, but surely lots of well-kept second homes are preferable to roofless wrecks.
Sophie King, Cambridge,
I only have one home but I would LOVE to have a little bolthole somewhere. Therefore I'm sticking up for the 2nd home owners. Why don't the country folk club together and get themselves a holiday flat in the city? All you in Devon, pop up to Bristol and have a real townie holiday, or get a place close to the capital and whizz into London for a theatre night and have a BBQ on a little balcony watching city life go by...
Lindsay, Bristol,
By all means squeeze out second homes - tax them until they are no longer economic and the result will be what?
Small villages will continue to die - in many areas there are no jobs and no future. The rural economy has contracted and will continue to contract as a share of national wealth - young people won't stay as it doesn't offer anything. The idea that there is a vibrant local economy held back by the high price of local home ownership is a myth - more of an ex post facto rationalisation for good old fashioned class based politics (evidenced by some of the comments here).
And if you drive out the second home owners what then happens to the tourist industry on which some many regions now depend? Oh, tourists will just rent - but rent what? You have just made second home ownership uneconomic and that is going to impact the rental market. Staying in hotels? You're joking - where? Why don't you just start promoting holidays in Tuscany. The affect will be the same.
H, London,
If living in a city is so traumatic,why not leave it permanently ?Second homes take affordability away from locals,kill communities,and contribute to the shortage of housing which we are told faces the country.They also add to traffic.What conceivable benefit they are to the host communities is evident only to second homers.
The government should impose an occupancy tax on all properties which fall within the ''second home'' description.
R.Bullen, Chepstow, UK
Seond home ownership needs to be resolved by planning. In Mousehole, Cornwall I'm told that 80% of the homes are holiday lets or second homes.The irony is that people en masse destroy the very community they want to enjoy. The solution is to set quotas, say 20%. This could be done by making a holiday let or second home need a 'change of use' planning application.
My guess is that the price of second homes would go u[p and the other property go down. This would force second home owners to share thier property and result in higher levels of occupation.
Whatever happened it would at least be fair and feasable.
jane, oxford,
There are lots of reasons to buy a second home. My husband and I have recently bought with the idea that we will eventually retire to our second home permanently. In the meantime, we'll gradually remodel and restore a terrace in a neglected conservation area, hopefully doing our small bit to improve the neighborhood along with the house.
People who buy second homes usually can afford to make improvements, and an improved house benefits our neighbor's property values. We pay taxes for schools and services but don't use them. We volunteer in the neighborhood, but don't take jobs away from the locals. We use local shops and tradesmen. We provide all the economic benefits of tourists, but with a personal committment to the welfare of the neighborhood that tourists don't give.
The other comments here against second home owners seem to come more from jealousy than from logic.
Alice Taylor, Salado, USA/ TX
I cannot understand what pleasure one gets from owning two, or even three, homes. The amount of stress required to find the money to maintain one house is bogling my mind, and I don't even own one - my wife owns it. I am not able to own a house in Mexico but I have paid for every bag of cement, steel rod and window in it.
I know people (some professing socialism) who have more than one house and I hear complaints of floodings, trees crashing down and generally nothing but spending all their quality time paying for and supervising repairs.
It's a free world but it does seem all out of balance when you see how some people have to live. Is there not a sleepless night for those with multiple homes?
Jim Hatch, Acapulco, Mexico
If we don't want to see our countryside concreted over then we need to fight the housing crisis on two fronts. Prevent people from owning second homes without paying a very high price for doing so and getting our border controls and immigration sorted so that we don't give out accomodation to foreigners before we can reasonably house those that are already here. These are purely practical measures.
R.Readhead, London, England
Wrong Rachel, the "contributing to local economy" line won't wash. Here one in 20 homes are owned by second-homers - according to Home's stats - and their owners aren't doing anything for our communities.
Yes, when they move in they splash money around local builders, plumbers and the like as they give their new properties a metropolitan makeover, but that's about it. Where in Britain will properties fall derelict if Rachel and Co don't rescue them - dream on...
Just about anything with walls and a roof will be used by someone if it's affordable. Homelessness is a fact of life now in rural Britain.
What we need here are houses with families living in them. Children to keep school rolls up and parents who want to work in local businesses (which are often held back by skills shortages).
Spend your money how you like Rachel, but don't expect our sympathy - or our respect.
Julian Rollins, Boncath, Pembrokeshire
Its strange that I've never seen an article defending second home owners from anyone who isn't.. a second home owner. Wouldn't it be far more balanced to go to a village that is a second-home hotspot and ask the locals what they think. I'm not even sure you'd get local businesses speaking out in their defence.
Andy, Swindon,
If you want to keep the place your family has occupied for generations, terrific - so live there. Otherwise, clear out and allow the possibility that someone who wasn't born with substantial country estates might want to move in!
I've never understood why people have these places instead of, say, renting holiday cottages when they want to go to the country. At least the holiday cottages could be in near-constant use. The suspicion, for those of us unlikely to be on the housing ladder any time soon, is that second homes are a place to park obscene amounts of spare dosh. I'm delighted that you are so heavily taxed - may you become more so!
Pav, London,
I live the lake district where many of the homes are empty for most of the year and many more are let out for a few weeks of the year as holiday homes. For the vast majority of local people property prices are unaffordable.
What is the local community that this article refers to?
Is it the local clubs and societies patronised by the same minded people who eventualy retire to thier second home?
It was depressing to see the whole article, pointing out and encouraging the ongoing buying up of houses by those who can afford them to the detriment of those who can't.
Sally , Lorton, Cockermouth, Cumbria
"I can’t think of many full-time takers for this place, and I can’t think of any who would love it half as much as I do. " Self righteous nonsense, if 2nd home owners hadn't pushed the price of even run down properties to absurd levels, local people would be queuing up to buy them.
Certain parts of this country (eg,East Anglia, West Country, Lake District) have been taken over by people who have no interest in the countryside other than observing it through their 4x4 windows. There's a few pubs left that cater for hikers but an alarming number are now serving drizzled this and that, and sea bass in a herbed crust. Perfect when you've had a hard day in their spa!
Joe Leeds, Leeds, UK
What a self-pitying defence of second home ownership (nobody else would wish to live here or love it as much as I do).
I live in the Lake District and it is highly unlikely that either of my daughters will ever be able to afford to live in the area to which they were born, despite them both having good jobs. Why? Because of the over inflated prices caused by second home owners who have no comittment to the local community. Drive through many villages during the winter and there will not be one light on in any of the houses. I rest my case!!
Steve, Kendal,
Scourge, simple as that. Successive governments have sold off the bulk of council rented property which offered long-term security of tenure, and liberalised private tenancy rights so that six-months is the maximum period of security available. Owner-occupancy is now the only way any form of long term security can be attained. In this environment a stable society cannot be maintained if a relatively wealthy minority are allowed to hoard more and more of the housing stock. Relying on a sense of social responsibility won't solve this problem, but suitably heavy taxation of scond homes and BTL properties might. Most of the justifications presented in this article can equally be achieved by staying in a hotel when you want time away from home, probably at a much greater advantage to the local economy. As for family heritage etc, the future has to take priority over the past.
Clive, Chichester, UK
What a sad state of affairs Britian has become. The idea that people would threaten the property of others because they dare to own two homes! If someone is able to afford a second home, after paying the high taxes on income so the useless of society can breed like rabbits and not have to support their ignorant spawn, then let them. It is their money. Using this logic, all B&B's should be shut down so the rooms could be rented out, cheaply, to locals.
Steve, Seattle, WA
If people buying second houses in an area puts prices up then simply build more houses until the price comes down. You won't have to build many - as the place gets crowded, the second-home owners will ove away, and you'll be left with a glut of cheap housing.
Steve Swift, Alton, Hampshire
Here in Germany, people might rent a second flat if they live in one town and work in another. They rent a flat in the town they work in and offset it against tax. This means that when I enquired about renting the small bedsit on the ground floor as a small office for me because it had been empty for years and I was now in a position to be able to afford a small office (I work from home), I was told that it had been rented out years ago. I've never seen anyone in it. It's just a tax dodge. It would be ideal for a student or an apprentice - small but cheap and central.
I now suspect that another much larger flat in my building has also gone the same way. The flat beneath this one houses a family of four. This means that whoever is keeping this flat for a tax dodge is blocking the rental of this flat to a family.
And then people say that more accommodation has to be built? No, just ban second homes that are kept empty. Or nearly always empty as with holiday homes.
They're immoral.
Tina, Düsseldorf, Germany
I'm 31 and was born and bred in Shropshire, I was lucky enough to buy a small 60s semi just before prices spiralled beyond control, but now the people I went to school with are moving out of the county as they cannot afford property. Some of the property price rise is without doubt due to people buying second homes in what they just view as a pretty area - and even more of the rises are due to older people retiring here. All of this means that the population here is getting older ever year (see the statistics on the Shropshire County Council website) and those of us young people who are left will struggle more and more to pay for essential services. Schools are closing down as there are less children - second home owners and retired couples do not use schools, however much they might use post offices! The writer says that she uses local shops, which is admirable - but she is only there to use them for a few weeks in each year, whereas a permanent resident would use them every week.
Sarah, shrewsbury,
Hmmm a very self serving article. Second homes are bought by rich people from London. This forces prices up to a level locals cannot afford. But worse it reduces the permanent population of the (usually rural) area.
The rural infrastructure depends upon a reasonable fully resident population supporting local business every day-not just weekends,
Merlin, Northampton, UK
Have two houses or three if it pleases you.
The rest of us can have double the fun when you get hit twice by the housing crash.
Goel, Edinburgh,
"it's all about me, me, me and me" Rachel Johnson you are so self centered - like most 2nd home owners.
Fred, Dubai, Dubai