Parts of Wales have seen a dramatic increase in holiday home users over the last decade, according to new data. This week the ONS published their analysis of the Census 2021 data, which revealed the hotspots where second addresses are used as holiday homes in England and Wales.
Over recent years the influx of second homes in rural parts of Wales has widely been discussed with the focus very much on its impact on the Welsh language and people being priced out of their local communities. The Welsh Government has vowed to tackle these issues with various new policies including allowing county councils to increase council tax premiums as well as making changes to the criteria for self-catering accommodations.
According to ONS more than one in 10 addresses are used as holiday homes in some areas of England and Wales, which means that around 70,000 second addresses were used as holiday homes and visited by more than 200,000 people. The data found that holiday homes accounted for 4.1% of all second addresses and were mainly concentrated in coastal areas, areas of outstanding natural beauty or national parks including the Lake District, Dartmoor, and Eryri.
