London’s Prime Boroughs Lead Second Home Market

New research shows that while Cornwall sits top when it comes to the sheer size of the nation’s second home housing market, it’s the prime London boroughs of Kensington and Westminster that are home to the highest market value where secondary properties are concerned.

London-based estate agency Benham and Reeves analysed existing government data on the number of second homes across each area of England and Wales, before looking at the total market value of this secondary level of the housing market based on the current average property price for each property type in line with the number of second homes recorded for each property type.

The research shows that across England and Wales, there are 141,245 second homes, with flats proving the most popular, accounting for 42% of all second homes, whilst detached properties are the second most common second home at 24%.

This is a trend that is generally observed across all regions of the UK, although in the East Midlands (28%), East of England (34%) and Wales (41%), detached homes rank as the most common type of second home, where as in the North East, terraced homes account for 38% of all second homes.

In London, flats remain the most common type of second home, but the second home market within the capital is unique compared to other regions given that flats account for a huge 87% of all second homes.

Cornwall ranks top as the nation’s second home hotspot based on sheer volume, with 9,425 second homes, by far the most of any local authority in England and Wales. However, it is the prime London locations of Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster that are the nation’s most prestigious second home housing markets.

Across England and Wales, Benham and Reeves estimates that the total market value of the nation’s second homes currently sits at a whopping £42.761bn. Kensington and Chelsea tops the table at local authority level, where the second home housing market is estimated to be worth over £6bn, followed by Westminster at £4.103bn.

Cornwall ranks as the most valuable second home housing market outside of London at £2.873bn, with Tower Hamlets (£1.375bn), North Yorkshire (£1.036bn) and South Hams (£1.031bn) also home to a second home market value of over £1bn.