Key points

• Considering how the holiday home will be used.
• Considering the other influences such as location and maintenance.
• Budgeting and buying  a sound investment.

Buying a holiday home for personal use is an exciting prospect.  Choosing the perfect retreat in your favourite part of the country to while away the summer and enjoy leisurely long-weekends is something many of us dream about – the flexibility to enjoy a property which is perfect for you at your convenience.

This section explores some of the factors which may influence and affect your approach.

Having a plan may not seem necessary at this point – simply set a budget and choose a property in the preferred area.  However some consideration towards goals and usage at this stage will go a long a way to ensuring the purchase choice is the right one and long term pleasure is attained from the investment. This section seeks to explore some of the issues to factor in at this early planning stage.

A good starting point is defining how the holiday home will be used.  This may involved looking, realistically and objectively, at your (and your family’s) lifestyle and leisure time.  How much free time do you have to enjoy the second home?  How often and for how long would you use it?  Would you let family members or friends and work colleagues use it?  And what implications might that have on cleaning and maintenance?

Work and social commitments may well cut into your free time and restrict usage.  This changes, of course, for those of us who are retired where usage can be more frequent and is not uncommon to spend the majority of the summer at a second home.

Establishing how a property will be used in turn influences a number of the factors you may want to consider.  Where to buy you holiday home, consider matters such as how often you will travel to the property; is it frequent weekend ‘flying’ visits to a property an hour or 2 away – a weekend break from the pressures of work, or for longer stays where the journey from your main residence is less of a consideration.

Other influences include running costs and ease of maintenance for a property which can be many miles away, what is in the area such as amenities, restaurants and places to visit, or activities to support personal interests such as golf, walking, painting or watersports.  

Planning long term is important too, giving consideration to how the value of a purchase may increase or decrease over time and how you would dispose of the property at the right time.

And finally buying a property is naturally influenced by the purchase budget and what kind of property to buy, such as freehold, leasehold or on a holiday lodge park.

This section explores further some of the factors to consider at the outset of an exciting journey towards holiday home ownership.