Second Home Ownership: A Blessing for All?

Second home ownership is often regarded as being positive for the owners. Previous research shows that owning a second home means a great deal for the general satisfaction and quality of life of the owners. Historically, the political goal of expanding second home ownership among the Swedish population was to improve health and well-being and provide access to outdoor recreation and rural landscapes for the growing urban population, which is assumed to correlate with high satisfaction and quality of life among individuals. However, owning a second home does not always relate to positive experiences for owners, an issue not highlighted in previous second home research. Therefore, the purpose of the research presented here is to add to existing theories on second home ownership with special reference to the ambiguous relationships that exist between owners and their second homes. This is done by exploring and describing the group of second home owners who express negative experiences. The data used are retrieved from a nationwide questionnaire survey, targeting a representative sample of second home owners in Sweden during 2009. Results show that some 72,000 second home owners in Sweden can be defined as less satisfied and that age, health and income are important for ownership satisfaction.