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

Rapid Evidence Assessment of the Research Literature on the Purchase and Use of Second Homes
• Building conservation: This is linked to the type of properties that second home owners purchase. It is
argued that the purchase and improvement of derelict or poorly maintained property may enhance the
environment and enhance local character (Downing & Dower, 1973). Nevertheless, counter-arguments
include that planning policies in rural areas are usually opposed to the re-use of isolated properties in the
countryside.
• New development: Although there is little evidence that second home owners have traditionally sought to
purchase new property, there has been concerns expressed as to whether increased pressure for second
homes would lead to inappropriate developments in relation to local building and landscape character.
• Indirect impacts: A linked line of analysis is that the purchase of existing property by second home owners
results in the need for more new developments to meet local requirements that may be difficult to design to
respect local character.
Impact evidence from international literature
200. Some studies that review international information note that the balance between the positive and
negative economic and social effects of second homes is a function of local circumstances (for example,
Gallent & Tewdwr-Jones, 2000; p150). Some evidence from other countries notes the “Positive economic
impact of second homes” but claims that the effects depend on whether or not second homes displace
permanent homes and if they do the “economic effect is likely to be negative” (Hall & Müller, 2004, p26).
201. The displacement effect of second homes may well be less in countries where there is significant building
that is especially for second homes and there is effectively a market in second homes that is separate from the
main market. In this respect contrasts with, for example, Sweden and Denmark have been noted (Gallent et al,
2003b, pp18, 19 & 46).
202. Reviewing international evidence, Paris (2006, p18) concludes “There are causal relationships between
second home ownership and local issues of concern, but such relationships vary enormously between places
and over time and their actual impact in particular places should be seen as an empirical question rather than
assumed to result from a standard cause-effect relationship.”
203. Another study, examining evidence from Australia and reporting specifically on a study in Tasmania,
concludes “The question of whether second homes, in the abstract, are good or bad in their local social and
economic impacts is more complex than it first appears. More important is the question of the extent to which
second homes tend to dominate local housing markets” (Atkinson et al, 2007, p25)
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