Rapid Evidence Assessment of the Research ... - Rural Housing

Introduction
6. We have also applied the principles in Nutley, Walter and Davies (2007). This means that the nature of the
evidence and its veracity has been evaluated and the explicit evidence for the research questions has been
extracted.
7. The limits of the search and the use of the identified source materials have been decided strictly by the
relevance to the research questions. The team has determined which studies provide evidence that informs
each of the research objectives and for each usable study there has been an evaluation of the research and the
conclusions in relation to the key research questions. To supplement the sources that are available
electronically, a small number of books that address key issues on second homes have been used.
8. As well as the searches indicated above, the following work has been consulted: ‘The Impact of Empty,
Second and Holiday Homes on the Sustainability of Rural Communities: A Systematic Literature Review’
undertaken in 2005 by the Centre for Housing Policy at the University of York (Wallace et al, 2005).
9. This literature review has used English language sources from 1998 onwards as required by the brief. Where
pre-1998 sources are cited these have not been accessed directly but have been quoted in post-1998
literature.
10. This evaluation has shown that while there is a substantial volume of material available on second homes,
there is a lack of material which provides a clear empirical backing to inform several of the objectives and
related research questions. These include, for example, the effect of second homes on house prices, and firsttime
buyers and the social and demographic characteristics of those buying second homes. On other research
questions, such as the geographical distribution of second homes, there is a good deal of relevant material. For
several of the research questions there is a lot of literature that makes assertions without firm empirical
evidence. This evaluation attempts to distinguish between assertion and evidence.
11. It must be stressed that where this assessment shows that there is lack of evidence in relation to a
research question, this does not imply any conclusion in relation to the substantive issue. For example, a
conclusion that there is a lack of robust evidence about the effect of second homes on house prices and
affordability for first-time buyers does not mean that second homes do not have effects on prices and
affordability, any more than it means that they do have such effects. It simply means that the evidence is
inadequate. This suggests that further work is necessary to provide evidence to address the question.
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