Holiday homes - second homes, holiday homes and holiday home visits

As part of the 2021 census, the Office for National Statistics collected data on the number of second homes and whether individuals had a second address which was a holiday home.  The latter covers any address where the individual stayed for at least 30 days per year.

 

Local authority data has been modified so that areas within a county have been amalgamated. This results in more meaningful data making it possible to compare say Cornwall with Devon. 

 

Second homes

Table one shows the top ten areas for second homes.  These ten account for 44% of second homes in England and Wales. Cornwall tops the list with 11,490 or 6.7% of the total.

 

		2nd homes
Location	No's	%
Cornwall	11490	6.7
East Riding of Yorkshire	10995	6.4
Devon	9620	5.6
Norfolk	8630	5.0
Lincolnshire	7490	4.3
Kent	7025	4.1
Cumbria	5565	3.2
Kensington and Chelsea	5370	3.1
Dorset	5305	3.1
North Yorkshire	4420	2.6
Sub-total	75910	44.0
Total	172520	100.0

 

Holiday homes – location of visitors

The top ten areas for holiday homes account for a quarter of the total.  Surrey had the highest number of people who had stayed at a holiday home. Kensington and Chelsea was the only area which appeared in both lists.

 

	Location of visitor/owner	Holiday home
	No's	%
Surrey	15227	3.4
Essex	13134	2.9
Kent	13055	2.9
Hampshire	12842	2.9
Cheshire	11549	2.6
Lancashire	11319	2.5
Hertfordshire	11036	2.5
Kensington and Chelsea	8241	1.8
Staffordshire	8169	1.8
Buckinghamshire	8049	1.8
Sub-total	112621	25.2
Total	446647	100.0

 

Holiday visits

Just over half of the total visits were to ten areas with Norfolk, Cornwall and Devon in the top three. 

 

 

	Visits
Location	No's	%
Norfolk	14340	6.9
Cornwall	14230	6.9
Devon	14150	6.8
Dorset	11125	5.4
Cumbria	11085	5.3
North Yorkshire	10410	5.0
Lincolnshire	10000	4.8
Gwynedd	9310	4.5
Kent	7350	3.5
East Riding of Yorkshire	6505	3.1
Sub-total	108505	52.2
Total	207705	100.0

 

Comparing the three sets of data shows some interesting points.  With the exception of the East Riding of Yorkshire and particularly Kensington and Chelsea, visits to an area exceeded the number of second homes.  Most areas had fewer residents with a holiday home elsewhere than there were second homes in the area.  The exceptions were Kent, Kensington and Chelsea, and North Yorkshire. Presumably the situation in Kent and Kensington and Chelsea, are a reflection of more affluence in these areas.

 

	2nd homes	Visits	Holiday home visits
	In  area	To area	Elsewhere
Location	No's	No's	No's
Cornwall	11490	14230	2329
East Riding of Yorkshire	10995	6505	2907
Devon	9620	14150	6368
Norfolk	8630	14340	5031
Lincolnshire	7490	10000	5913
Kent	7025	7350	13055
Cumbria	5565	11085	3133
Kensington and Chelsea	5370	250	8241
Dorset	5305	11125	4712
North Yorkshire	4420	10410	6441

 

 

Notes

Second homes

This release focuses on second homes located in England and Wales that had no usual residents. This is derived from a combination of census data and administrative data (Figure 1). These estimates capture all second homes with no usual residents regardless of length of stay per year and location of the usual residence of individuals staying there (that is, covers non-UK residents). ONS, October 2023.

 

Second address

In addition to reporting their primary address, Census 2021 also asked respondents to report whether they stay at another address for more than 30 days a year. If they answered yes, they were then asked the purpose of the second address, and whether it is within or outside the UK.

 

The proportion who reported a “holiday home” for their second address was more stable. The number of people across England and Wales who reported the use of a holiday home rose slightly (from 426,000 in 2011 to 447,000 in 2021), which was a marginal decrease as a percentage of the population (from 0.76% in 2011 to 0.75% in 2021). ONS, January 2023.

 

Visits

Visits of people to a holiday home.

 

Sources

Office for National Statistics , (5 January 2023 ), People with second addresses, England and Wales: Census 2021, Statistical Bulletin.

 

Office for National Statistics , (20 June 2023 ), Flows of users of holiday homes in England and Wales: Census 2021

 

Office for National Statistics, (27 October 2023), Number of vacant and second homes, England and Wales: Census 2021, Dataset.