The London borough where the number of second homes has more than doubled

Second homes now make up more than one in every 20 properties in four of London’s boroughs. While the number of second homes in the capital has actually fallen since last year the number has more than doubled in the borough Wandsworth, a bigger increase than any other.

There are a total of 48,830 dwellings across the capital that are classed as second homes according to the latest government figures. This is lower than in 2023 when there were 49,019 but still higher than the 2022 figure of 46,036.

Wandsworth has seen a massive uptake of second homes in the last year. In 2023, there were 568 second homes in Wandsworth, which was two fewer than in 2022. But this year, there are 1,384 second homes in the borough- - over double. This could be due to the massive developments going on around Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station.

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That’s the second largest proportional increase in the country behind only Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire where the number is 10-times greater than last year. Haringey has seen the next largest increase.

Second homes are properties that are unlived in, but are fully furnished. They can include holiday lets like AirBnBs, as well as “buy-to-leave” properties, which are purchased as investments that are left unoccupied in the expectation that their value will rise.

18 of London’s 32 boroughs have seen the number of second homes fall. Take a look at our interactive map below to see how many second homes are in your borough:

Kensington and Chelsea had the most second homes in the city. With 7,667 second homes in the borough is actually 212 fewer than in 2023, but still works out as one in every 12 dwellings.

Tower Hamlets comes in second here with 7,525. This is actually a drop from 7,908 in 2023 but it still works out to one in 20 homes.

In terms of concentration per home, the City of London has the highest in England, let alone in the capital. There are 1,894 second homes in the square mile which works out as one in every four properties in the financial district. There were 111 more second homes in the area than in 2023.

Richmond upon Thames has seen an annual increase of 38.1% to 471, Lewisham has an increase of 36.8% to 539 and Kingston upon Thames has an increase of 34.2% to 938.

Overall, one out of every 78 properties in London is a second home. However, in some parts the proportion is far greater.

Camden has seen the number of second homes fall by nearly a thousand to a total of 6,298. Despite the fall though, one in 18 properties there is a second home.

The national context

The number of second homes is on the rise across England. There are a total of 279,870 second homes in England, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

That’s 16,552 more than in 2023 and 22,957 more than in 2022. It means the number has increased by 8.9% in the space of just two years.

A spokesperson from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “We understand the frustration in areas where large numbers of properties are used as second homes and we are determined to tackle this issue.

“That’s why we are taking decisive action to protect communities by giving councils powers to charge a council tax premium on second homes and increasing Stamp Duty for those buying additional properties.”

The government has provided councils with the discretionary power to charge a council tax premium of up to 100% on second homes starting next April. The premium is not a mandatory requirement, it is for councils to decide whether to charge the premium and at what rate.

The government has also announced an increase to the higher rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax on additional dwellings in the Autumn Budget. This is designed to give an advantage to people buying a home to live in an advantage over those purchasing additional property.

London's raw data

Number of Second Homes in 2024

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