ABSTRACT
This chapter considers various references to environmental, social and cultural concerns are made in a number of the prior studies and it examines the more general conflicts and social impacts surrounding second home ownership. Perhaps the most controversial issue surrounding the expansion in second home ownership in years has been the social effect that this growth has had on importing regions and on particular rural communities. The growth in second home ownership in rural England and Wales has generated both a realised social impact and an emotional reaction. In the majority of the more general second home studies, reference to social impact is implicitly related to competition for mainstream housing and the replacement of permanent residents. C. A. J. Jacobs has argued that the second home issue is perhaps of greater social importance in Wales than in England where 'regional cultures have practically ceased to exist'.
