A degree of confusion may have crept into the second/holiday homes discussion. The ONS have released data from the 2021 census with a breakdown of the second addresses of people. However, news reports seem to think the figures show the total number of holiday homes. “Cornwall had the highest number of holiday homes at the time of the Census (6,080), followed Gwynedd (2,590), Dorset (2,490) and North Norfolk (2,195).”[1].
What does the ONS say?
ONS state “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."[2].
What do the figures for Cornwall tell us?
The census indicates that there were 14,230 people who had stayed at a holiday home in Cornwall. [3].
The census also indicates that there were 23,805 dwellings used as second addresses in Cornwall. [4] Of these, 6,080 were holiday home. Other categories included: Another parent or guardian’s address – 7,250, Student’s home address – 4,580, and Other (including armed forces) – 2,860.
Category | Numbers |
Holiday home | 6,080 |
Another address when working away from home | 980 |
Student's term time address | 120 |
Student's home address | 4,580 |
Another parent or guardian's address | 7,250 |
Partner's address | 1,935 |
Other (including armed forces) | 2,860 |
Total | 23,805 |
But the number of people staying at a holiday home does not represent the number of holiday homes in Cornwall. According to the Council tax base [5], there were 13,642 holiday homes in 2020 and 13,260 in 2021.
The number of holiday homes may be under-represented in the ONS figures as some people may not have spent more than 30 days in their home - possibly due to covid rules in 2021. Others may just have not answered this question.
What we also know is that of the 285,534 dwellings in Cornwall in 2021, 35,125 were unoccupied. [6].This would have included holiday/second homes, holiday lets and vacant properties. At the moment we do not have a breakdown for these from the census.
Conclusion
Holiday home data is limited due to the nature of the sources which means that arriving at a definitive figure is problematical.
Sources
[2] ONS, People with second addresses, England and Wales: Census 2021. Statistical Bulletin, 5th January 2023.
[3] ONS, Census 2021 from the Office for National Statistics. Flows of users of holiday homes in England and Wales: Census 2021.
Table 2a: Number of people using holiday homes in the local authority per 1,000 usual residents. 20th June 2023.
[4] ONS. Location of dwellings used as second addresses for usual residents in England and Wales, Census 2021. Table 1c: Location of dwellings used as a second address by usual residents in England and Wales, by second address type,….
[5] Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Council Tax base.
[6] ONS, Census 2021 from the Office for National Statistics. Table 1a: Dwelling occupancy by dwelling type, national to local authority, England and Wales 2021.
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