ABSTRACT

How can planning respond to heightened housing consumption and the use of dwellings in diverse recreational and commercial ways? This chapter argues that the term ‘rural second homes’ obscures the extent of multiple dwelling ownership, the diversity of dwellings ownership and use, and differences between countries and over time. The focus here is on ‘holiday homes in countrysides’, the hybrid nature of holiday homes with overlaps between residential and recreational uses of dwellings, and growing transnational dimension of housing and leisure markets, including holiday homes. The chapter explores the diversity of planning issues and evolving planning responses to emergent dimensions of hybridity, including Airbnb. The perspective is global, but examples are mainly drawn from the UK, Ireland and Australia.