While controversy rages about second home owners taking up affordable housing stock and leaving locals unable to buy their own home, the ONS has published statistics showing that second home ownership is on the increase.
Based on statistics from the 2021 census, the Office for national Statistics has announced that:
- In England and Wales, 5.3% of people (3.2 million) stayed at a second address for 30 days or more; a slightly higher percentage of people in England used a second address (5.4%) than in Wales (5.2%).
- In 2021, 447,000 people (0.7%) stayed at a second address that was a holiday home, over three quarters of these people (77.0%) were aged 50 years and over.
- More people stayed at a holiday home in the UK (217,000) in 2021 than in 2011 (180,000).
- There was a large increase (42.4%) in the number of people with a second parent or guardian’s address, from 742,000 in 2011 to 1.1 million in 2021, most were aged under 20 years (66.3%), and over half (52.2%) lived within 10km of their second address.
- Fewer people stayed at another address when working away from home in 2021 (189,000) than in 2011 (253,000), a decrease of a quarter. This could be explained by the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.
- Of the 294,000 people who reported staying at a partner’s address for more than 30 days a year, a fifth (21.4%) were aged between 20 and 26 years and most (70.2%) lived within 50km of their second address.
In 2021, 3.2 million (5.3%) usual residents in England and Wales reported that they had a second address where they spend 30 days or more a year. This number increased from 2.9 million (5.2%) in 2011. There was a higher proportion of usual residents in England who stay at a second address (5.4%) than in Wales (5.2%).
The largest second address type was another parent or guardian’s address, at 1.1 million (1.8% of all usual residents and 33.1% of people with a second address) having this second address type. The second largest second address type was a student’s home address, at 655,000 (1.1% of all usual residents and 20.6% of people with a second address).
Of all usual residents who were born in the UK, 5.0% reported that they stayed at a second address in 2021, an increase from 4.7% in 2011. In contrast, the percentage of non-UK-born residents who stayed at a second address decreased from 8.4% in 2011 to 7.0% in 2021.
With these data, it is important to consider the impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. For instance, students may have been more likely to be residing at their parent or guardian’s address for the whole academic year with no use of a different term-time address, and fewer international students were in England and Wales.
Second Homes
In England and Wales, 5.3% of people (3.2 million) stayed at a second address for 30 days or more; a slightly higher percentage of people in England used a second address (5.4%) than in Wales (5.2%).
In 2021, 447,000 people (0.7%) stayed in a second address that was a holiday home; over three-quarters of these people (77.0%) were aged 50 years and over.
More people stayed at a holiday home in the UK (217,000) in 2021 than in 2011 (180,000). There was a large increase (42.4%) in the number of people with a second parent or guardian’s address, from 742,000 in 2011 to 1.1 million in 2021; most were aged under 20 years (66.3%), and over half (52.2%) lived within 10 kilometres (km) of their second address.
Fewer people stayed at another address when working away from home in 2021 (189,000) than in 2011 (253,000), a decrease of a quarter; this could be explained by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic restrictions.
Of the 294,000 people who reported staying at a partner’s address for more than 30 days a year, a fifth (21.4%) were aged between 20 and 26 years and most (70.2%) lived within 50km of their second address.
Increase
More people had a holiday home in the UK and fewer had a holiday home outside the UK in 2021 than 2011. In 2011 and 2021, there was an increase of 4.7% in the number of people who stayed at a holiday home for more than 30 days per year (from 426,000 to 447,000).
People who stayed at holiday homes were evenly split between females and males at all age groups in both Census 2021 and 2011 Census. The peak occurs at age 64 years in 2011 and at age 73 years in 2021, likely reflecting the size of this generation and their holiday home ownership ageing over the decade.
The number of UK-born people whose second address is in another local authority (LA) within England and Wales increased by 22.3% (from 155,000 to 189,000). That figure decreased by 2.4% for non-UK-born residents.
The number of UK-born people with a holiday home in their LA has increased by 30.3%. The largest change for non-UK-born residents is also for people with a holiday home within the same LA; the number has fallen by 45.9%.
For usual residents who stayed at a holiday home, the largest number of holiday homes outside of the UK are in Spain (including Canary Islands) in both 2021 (66,000) and in 2011 (65,000). France has the second highest number of holiday homes, with 51,000 in 2021 and 62,000 in 2011.
Holiday
Kensington and Chelsea had the highest proportion of usual residents (5.7%) who spent 30 days or more at a holiday home. Of the ten local authorities (LA) with the highest proportions of people with a holiday home, eight were in London and two were in Surrey (Elmbridge 1.9% and Waverley 1.6%).
Vale of Glamorgan (0.8%) and Monmouthshire (0.8%) were among the LAs with the highest proportions of people usually resident in Wales who stayed at a holiday home.
See also: The Importance of Specialist Insurance for Landlords
