Holiday homes in the UK: 2023 to 2025

FOI reference: FOI-2026-3606

You asked

I’m writing to request some information to be shared over email on the number of holiday homes in the UK.

It would be great if you could share:

• the number of holiday homes in the UK in 2025
• the number of holiday homes in the UK in 2024
• the number of holiday homes in the UK in 2023

If possible, it would also be much appreciated if we could receive a regional breakdown of the above to determine which parts of the UK had the most holiday homes in 2025, 2024, and 2023.

We said

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request.

We do not hold the information you have requested. We do not collect information annually on the number of holiday homes and, as such, we are unable to provide the requested information for the years requested.

We do hold data on the number of "second homes", which were gathered in the 2021 Census for England and Wales. These data show the purpose of individuals' second addresses. The Census provides a "snapshot in time" – in this case, 21 March 2021. 

For the Census, the number of "second homes" is defined as an address (in or outside the UK) where a person stays for more than 30 days per year that is not their usual residence. Please note, we are responsible for the Census in England and Wales only.

Please see the associated download named "2021 Census Dataset – TS055 – Purpose of second address".

These data have been downloaded from the Nomis website. Nomis is run by Durham University on behalf of ONS. 

If you have queries about our data, please contact census.customerservices@ons.gov.uk.

The Census in the rest of the UK is carried out separately by: 

• National Records of Scotland (NRS) 
• Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) 

Differences in definitions and data collection also mean that data from each nation cannot be combined into a single UK total. To obtain figures for Scotland and Northern Ireland, you would need to contact those organisations directly.

Their contact details are:

National Records of Scotland (NRS)
Tel: 0131 314 4299
Email: statisticscustomerservices@nrscotland.gov.uk
Website: www.nrscotland.gov.uk  

Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA)
Tel: 0289 025 5156
Email: census@nisra.gov.uk
Website: www.nisra.gov.uk/census