Can people buying second homes in villages and towns negatively impact the local communities?

When it comes to the impact on rural areas from second home buyers, there are positives and negatives. Many villages and towns rely on the injection of wealth that follows when more prosperous city dwellers move into their communities, if only for holiday seasons and weekends. When extended families and friends swap the urban rat race for the tranquility and relaxation of second homes, the local economy will benefit from a sudden influx of people with disposable income to spend in cafes, restaurants, pubs and souvenir shops.

On the other hand, this activity will also have a detrimental effect on property prices, as the market will become skewed towards wealthier buyers from outside the vicinity at the expense of locals, many of whom will be employed in traditional industries and earning considerably less than city professionals. The whole situation can become reversed as locals, priced out of their own housing market, are forced to move into larger population areas to find employment or affordable housing.

People who are only living in a certain locale on a transitory basis will be less inclined to get involved in issues unique to the local economy, such as fishing or agricultural questions; although it has to be said that some second home owners enthusiastically embrace their 'home from home' and become very active in parish affairs.