One in ten homes are now used as holiday lets in seven pockets of England and Wales, official data shows.
Top of the list is the Salcombe, Malborough and Thurlestone area of South Hams, where there are 171.9 holiday homes for every 1,000 properties.
Meanwhile, the Welsh coastal area of Abersoch and Aberdaron in Gwynedd, was in second with 153.3 holiday homes per 1,000 properties.
The rest of the seven are made up of two areas of Cornwall and three in North Norfolk, the Census data from the Office for National Statistics shows.
Holiday hotspots: South Hams has the highest concentration of holiday homes, ONS data suggests
In Cornwall, the areas of Trebetherick and Whitecross, along with Padstow and St Issey are third and fourth respectively.
Meanwhile, in Norfolk the areas of Brancaster, Burnham Market and Docking, Hunstanton and Wells and Blakeney all have more than 100 holiday homes per 1,000 properties, making up the rest of the list.
Around 70,000 second addresses were used as holiday homes, visited by more than 200,000 people in England and Wales, the ONS says.
Holiday homes account for 4.1 per cent 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 (Snowdonia).
The ONS said that the Census 2021 data on second addresses only includes people who usually reside in England and Wales who said they spend at least 30 days a year at the address.
The total number of second addresses used as holiday homes, and people who use them, are likely to be higher, it suggested.
The list of holiday home hotspots where one in 10 addresses are used as holiday homes include South Hams’ Salcombe
The South West and Wales
As a whole, the South West had the highest concentration of holiday homes compared with other English regions and Wales, at 7.5 for every 1,000 homes.
This was followed by Wales, with 6.9 holiday homes for every 1,000 homes. London had the lowest at 0.6 per 1,000.
The figure was higher in local authority areas known as popular tourist destinations. In South Hams in Devon, there were 44.1 holiday homes for every 1,000 homes.
This was the highest rate of any local authority area in England and Wales excluding the Isles of Scilly, which has a particularly small resident population.
South Hams has a long coastline and is home to the southern part of Dartmoor National Park, as well as the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
South Hams was followed by Gwynedd in North Wales at 41 per 1,000 homes, which contains most of Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park, North Norfolk at 38.7 per 1,000, and the Isle of Anglesey at 32.9 per 1,000.
Both UK and Welsh parliaments have recently passed new laws to further regulate the ownership of second homes.
Last year, the Government changed the law so that second homeowners would pay council tax on properties that are not genuine holiday lets.
Second homeowners must now prove holiday lets are rented out for a minimum of 70 days a year, and are available to rent for at least 140 days.
The Welsh Government recently increased its own letting requirements so properties must be rented out for at least 182 days a year, and available for at least 252 days.
It has also raised the maximum council tax premium that councils can apply to second homes, to up to four times the standard rate.
Abersoch is among the holiday home hotspots, according to the data from the Office for National Statistics
Popularity of staycations
Almost half – or 48.5 per cent – of those who used a second address as a holiday home travelled within Britain, up from 42.3 per cent in the 2011 Census.
Around two in five – at 41.8 per cent – of those who used holiday homes in Britain travelled less than 100 kilometres from their usual address.
And around one in every 50 people who used a holiday home stayed in the same local authority as their usual residence.
At a regional level, using holiday homes in the same area as a usual residence was most common in Yorkshire and the North of England.
Around two-thirds of holiday home users in these areas came from within the same region, 63.5 per cent in Yorkshire and the Humber, 63.2 per cent in the North East, and 61.7 per cent in the North West.
Of the 93,650 Londoners who used second addresses as holiday homes, almost a quarter travelled within the South, with 14.4 per cent going to the South East, and 10 per cent to the South West.
Almost two-thirds – at 62.3 per cent – of Londoners who used holiday homes travelled outside of Britain, the highest proportion of any region of England, or Wales. Only 0.7 per cent stayed at addresses in London.
Properties for sale in holiday home locations
These properties for sale are in the areas where one in ten addresses are holiday homes.
1. Six-bed house, Abersoch, £1,675,000
This six-bedroom house in the Welsh village of Abersoch is for sale for £1,675,000
This six-bedroom house for sale is in the Welsh village of Abersoch, in Gwynedd.
It has views of the sea and is on the market for £1,675,000 via Elvins estate agents.
2. Three-bed flat, Hunstanton, Norfolk, £595k
This three-bedroom flat for sale is in the Norfolk seaside town of Hunstanton and has views of the sea
This three-bedroom flat for sale is in the Norfolk seaside town of Hunstanton.
Hunstanton has been identified as one of the areas where one in 10 addresses are used as holiday homes.
The flat has views of the sea and is on the market for £595,000 via Sowerbys estate agents.
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