According to new results from a study conducted by a leading holiday home insurance provider in the UK, the average second home owner in the UK visits their holiday home just twice per year; with those with homes in the UK least likely to visit frequently.
The study, conducted by Schofields Insurance Ltd aimed take a closer look into the investment made by holiday home owners from the UK; gauging how frequently homes are used, and whether or not they're visited by owners as often as hoped.
Over 1,200 home owners aged 18 and over from the UK subsequently took part, all of whom owned a holiday or second home in the UK or abroad.
Those taking part in the study were asked to estimate how frequently they visited their second/holiday property in an average year.
With all answers taken into account, the average visit rate was revealed to be '2.5 times per year'; meaning that holiday home owners visit their properties just twice a year on average.
Those with holiday homes in the UK were revealed by the study to visit their holiday home less frequently than those with properties abroad; averaging just 2.0 visits per year, compared to holiday home owners abroad who visited theirs an average of 3.0 times per year.
Of the 76 per cent who admitted to wanting to visit their holiday/second home more frequently, the top reasons holding them back were revealed to be as follows:
1) Work commitments - 37%
2) Personal/family commitments- 33%
3) Finances - 25%
4) Want to maximise guest bookings - 17%
5) Time constraints - 7%
Over half, 52 per cent, of the holiday home owners taking part claimed that they allowed visitors to their second/holiday home throughout the year.
Of these, a third, 33 per cent, claimed to have discovered damage to their property/furnishings upon visiting their home after they had allowed guests, which was not admitted by the guest at the time.
Furthermore, 82 per cent of those taking part claimed to be concerned about the state of their home, or any unknown damage, as a direct result of not visiting their home enough.
Despite this, 73 per cent of respondents claimed that their holiday/ second home was 'good value for money'; whilst 85 per cent did not regret their purchase, despite so many not visiting as frequently as they'd like.
Phil Schofield, spokesperson for Schofields Holiday Home Insurance, said the following about the findings:
"It's often the case that holiday home owners don't, in reality, get the chance to visit their second properties as much as they'd like. The simple fact is that life quite often just gets in the way.
"Lack of visitation often leaves damage to the home unnoticed or unreported so it's vital you have the correct insurance in place to protect your home against damage, no matter how often you purchase - or those two visits a year could be costing even more than you realise!"
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