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

9. What are the social and
economic impacts of households
owning second homes?
Introduction
Sectionhead
172. This chapter reviews the literature on the impact of households owning second homes. More specifically,
the objectives are to:
• Highlight research on the social and economic impacts of second homes in England since 1997;
• Briefly consider other potential impacts, for example, environmental sustainability; and
• Identify gaps in research on the impact of second homes.
173. The remainder of this section provides an overview of the current state of play on research on this topic.
This is followed by three sections that summarise the social, economic and environmental impacts.
174. The framework for analysis that is now widely accepted in the second homes impact literature is derived
from Gallent et al (2005) and Gallent and Tewdwr-Jones (2000). The authors distinguish between social,
economic and environmental considerations. But they note that there is overlap and interplay between them.
They usefully sub-divide these categories as follows:
• Social impacts
– Community
– Culture
– Confidence
• Economic impacts
– Housing
♦ Competition
♦ House price inflation
♦ Initial purchase
♦ Property speculation
♦ Housing stock improvements
– General economic considerations
♦ General expenditure
♦ Council tax contribution
♦ Economic impact
• Environmental impacts
– Resource implications, for example, travel and environmental pressures
– Pressure for new building
♦ Direct
♦ Indirect
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