Second Homes

Second homes are an increasingly important housing issue in many countries. In some locations, they are regarded as putting pressure on existing housing stock and the housing needs of permanent residents, while in others, they are a major contributor to the regional economy and enable the use and maintenance of vernacular housing that may have otherwise fallen into disrepair. Second homes are examined in the context of multiple dwelling and the life course, impacts, and planning and management.

There is no internationally accepted definition of a second home. The term acts as an umbrella expression for a variety of cognate terms including the cottage, holiday home, recreational home, summer home, vacation home, and weekend home. The common element of these terms is that the primary use of the second home is leisure- and recreation oriented. Caravans, mobile homes, and house boats are also sometimes included as categories of second homes in some jurisdictions, although most research attention is given to nonmobile and rural second homes. The different approaches to defining second homes mean that although their extent can usually be recognized at a national level, such figures are not readily comparable internationally.

In some European countries, such as the United Kingdom, second homes have historically been associated with the landed aristocracy and became a widespread phenomenon only with the growth of the middle classes following the industrial revolution and rapid urbanization of the 19th century. However, in other places, particularly the Nordic countries, and Australasia, second homes were associated more with cheap holidays and, in some cases, merely a relocation of housing for seasonal work activities over summer for either grazing, harvesting or fishing, in which recreational activities could also occur. Such a situation means that the association of second homes with elite housing is definitely not universal, although the social construction of the second home concept is continuing to change over time.