Housing Needs Assessment 2006 - Westminster City Council

Appendix A8 Second Homes in WestminsterAppendix A8 Second Homes in WestminsterA8.1 IntroductionThe survey estimates that there are 4,742 households in Westminster who own second homes. Thisappendix briefly examines the characteristics of these households in an attempt to identify anyfactors that are particularly prevalent, however it is important to remember that this is based on asample size of 40, and therefore should be regarded with some caution.An alternative questionnaire was designed to collect information on houses that were second homesin Westminster. Unfortunately no occupied second homes were surveyed during the fieldworkperiod and no information was ascertained from this questionnaire.A8.2 Household characteristicsThe average length of stay for households within their second homes is 12.28 weeks per year, andthe visits occur mostly at weekends and holidays.The table below shows the households with second homes are most likely to live in the owneroccupied(no mortgage) or the private rented sectors.Table A8.1 Tenure of households with second homesTenure Households % householdsOwner-occupied (no mortgage) 2,019 42.6%Owner-occupied (with mortgage) 390 8.2%Council 0 0.0%RSL 125 2.6%Private rented 2,208 46.6%TOTAL 4,742 100.0%Source: City of Westminster Housing Needs Survey 2006The table below shows the average length of time households stay in their second homes by tenure.It shows that private rented households stay the longest in their second homes. A possibleexplanation for this may be that many households own a property outside London, but live in rentedaccommodation in the City during the week.PAGE 211