Second homes mapped: holiday home hotspots in England and Wales as campaigners warn of ‘ghost town’ effect

Holiday homes now account for one in 10 properties in some parts of England and Wales, new figures show.

But housing campaigners have warned that the latest government figures on holiday and second home ownership do not reveal the true scale of the problem of “homes sucked out of use” and that the issue could be 10 times worse once short-term lets are factored in.

NationalWorld has created a series of interactive regional maps showing how the issue is affecting each community across England and Wales.

Around 70,000 second addresses were used as holiday homes in England and Wales, according to data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). These holiday homes were found to be mainly concentrated in picturesque coastal areas and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Regionally, the South West had the highest concentration of holiday homes with 7.5 for every 1,000 properties, followed by Wales, with 6.9 holiday homes for every 1,000 homes. London had the lowest, at 0.6 per 1,000. The South West was also found to have the greatest total number of holiday homes with almost 20,000, followed by the South East with just under 12,000 and the East of England with almost 9,000.

The interactive map below shows how many holiday homes are in your local authority. Can’t see the map? Click here to open it in a new tab.

Keep reading to explore more detailed maps for each region of England.

The figures are sourced from the 2021 census, which counts the number of dwellings used as a second address for at least 30 days a year by those living in England and Wales. Holiday homes accounted for 4.1% of the 1.7 million second homes recorded, with other types including the properties of a partner, parent or those used by commuters.

Concerns that holiday home owners are turning tourist hotspots into ghost towns have prompted crackdowns by governments across Britain this year.

But campaigners say the ONS figures do not account for many properties run as short-term lets, such as those listed on Airbnb, something Chris Bailey, national campaign manager at Action on Empty Homes, described as “Britain’s biggest unregulated money-spinner”.

He added: “The latest ONS work on holiday homes might seem shocking but I’m afraid the bad news is that it is just the tip of an iceberg of homes sucked out of use.

“The issue could easily be ten times as serious across the country as the latest ONS figures suggest. We really need the Government to introduce a proper licensing scheme so that we can assess the real impact.”

Recent analysis by NationalWorld found there were more than 35,000 properties (entire homes or apartments) listed on the Airbnb site across just four UK cities: London, Bristol, Edinburgh and Manchester.

Mr Bailey called for local communities to be given powers to “limit the conversion of much-needed housing into year-round short-lets, so-called second homes and holiday homes”, adding: “Recent government planning and licensing consultations need to produce some action that will give local communities back control of their housing.

“Otherwise, we will turn some of our most attractive coastal and rural areas into hollowed-out ghost towns, where no one on an average wage can find anywhere to live.

“We want our heritage to be accessible to everyone and to be living heritage not theme parks for the rich, with staff bussed in to serve their needs in high tourist season, or living in caravans and portacabins behind the hotels and restaurants they get seasonal work in.”

The government said it was taking action on the issue and had already introduced higher rates of stamp duty for second properties.

The worst affected local authorities

Despite limitations to the data, the ONS figures give an insight into which parts of the country have the greatest concentration of holiday homes.

At local authority level, the South Hams in Devon (which includes coastline and the Dartmoor national park) were found to have the highest rate of holiday homes with 44.1 for every 1,000 properties, followed by Gwynedd in North Wales with 41.0 per 1,000 homes – this area contains most of Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park. North Norfolk ranked third with 38.7 per 1,000, followed by the Isle of Anglesey with 32.9 per 1,000 properties.

Based on the total number of properties, Cornwall came top. The rural beauty spot has more than 6,000 holiday homes registered on the census, followed by Gwynedd in Wales with 2,500 and Dorset with almost 2,500. The chart below shows the local authority ranking with the greatest number of holiday homes. If you can’t see the chart below click here to view it in a new tab.

Towns and villages with the most holiday homes

ONS figures also show which small areas of the country are worst affected by holiday homes. These neighbourhoods, which are officially called Middle-layer Super Output Areas, comprise between 2,000 and 6,000 households.

The ONS identified seven areas of England and Wales where more than 1 in 10 homes were being used as holiday homes. These were:

• Salcombe, Malborough and Thurlestone in South Hams (171.9 holiday homes for every 1,000 homes)
• Abersoch and Aberdaron in Gwynedd (153.3 per 1,000)
• Trebetherick and Whitecross (139.5 per 1,000 homes) in Cornwall
• Padstow and St Issey (120.5 per 1,000) in Cornwall
• Brancaster, Burnham Market and Docking (130.4 per 1,000 homes) in King’s Lynn and West Norfolk
• Hunstanton (103.8 per 1,000) in King’s Lynn and West Norfolk
• Wells and Blakeney (109.1 per 1,000 homes) in North Norfolk.

Salcombe, Malborough and Thurlestone also topped the list for the small area with the highest number of holiday homes, at 735. Brancaster, Burnham Market and Docking in King’s Lynn and West Norfolk had the second highest number of holiday home properties with 670 and Trebetherick and Whitecross in Cornwall with 570.

The interactive maps below show how many holiday homes there are in regional neighbourhoods across England.

For confidentiality reasons the ONS suppresses holiday home numbers that are below 10. The figures have all been rounded to the nearest five.

In April, the UK government announced new proposals to give communities greater control over short-term lets in tourist hotspots. Under the proposals, planning permission would be required for an existing home to be used as a short term let. It said the measures would also “strengthen” the tourism sector.

Commenting on the figures, a spokesperson for the UK government said: “We are taking action to combat the adverse impact that second homes can have on local communities, particularly in tourist areas. Through the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill we will give councils the power to apply a council tax premium of up to 100% on second homes.

“We have already introduced higher rates of stamp duty for second properties and new measures to close tax loopholes on holiday lets came into force in April.”

A spokesperson for Airbnb added: “This [ONS] report - which covers holiday homes of all kinds - is not reflective of activity on Airbnb. The typical UK Host rents space in their own home for just two nights a month, and 4 in 10 say the additional income helps them afford their home and rising living costs.

“Airbnb recognises historic housing challenges across parts of the UK, and we continue to back new rules that support everyday Hosts and clampdown on speculators.”