An attractive combination of affordable house prices, high ‘happiness’ ratings and good quality healthcare elevated these towns to the top ranked second home destinations in the UK.
The study by Parkdean put 64 seaside resorts under the spotlight, scrutinising them on a variety of factors.
Swansea in Wales emerged as the best place to buy a seaside holiday home. With average house prices at £146,657 it was a strong contender before other factors were taken into account.
However, with a 78% rating for quality of healthcare and an Office for National Statistics (ONS) happiness score of 7.49 out of 10 as well as receiving a glowing 60 out of 64 for ‘popularity of location’ it proved the perfect second home package.
Plymouth in Devon came second and Lytham St Annes in Lancashire followed closely in third place.
A spokesperson for Parkdean said Plymouth – which has an average property price of £267,110 – gained second spot because it scored highest in popularity, making it one of the most searched for places on Google for those looking to buy a holiday home.
“Not only did Plymouth score highly for its popularity, but the locals also scored the seaside city an average of 7.51/10 for happiness. That’s something to smile about,” they added.
Lytham St Annes, meanwhile, offered a good social life for holidaymakers with locals scoring their happiness at an average of 7.44 out of 10. It was also very affordable with the average home costing £147,244.
The top 10 best UK locations to buy a seaside holiday home (source: Parkdean)
|
Ranking |
Seaside Town |
Average house price |
Population aged 65+ |
Quality of healthcare (%100) |
Popularity of location (0-64) |
ONS happiness score (0-10) |
Seaside Holiday Home Index score (0-256) |
| 1 | Swansea | £146,657.74 | 48,720 | 78% | 60 | 7.49 | 179 |
| 2 | Plymouth | £267,110.19 | 204,201 | 79.7% | 62 | 7.51 | 173 |
| 3 | Lytham St Annes | £147,244.96 | 253,027 | 77% | 21 | 7.44 | 172 |
| 4 | Scarborough | £226,332.03 | 152,657 | 77.2% | 60 | 7.61 | 171 |
| 5 | Robin Hood’s Bay | £226,332.03 | 152,657 | 81.2% | 34 | 7.61 | 169 |
| 6 | Brighton | £277,419 | 144,592 | 82.9% | 63 | 7.38 | 169 |
| 7 | Whitstable | £296,830.28 | 319,396 | 79.2% | 51 | 7.59 | 165 |
| 8 | Beer | £267,110.19 | 204,201 | 78.3% | 58 | 7.82 | 164 |
| 9 | Aberystwyth | £190,661.18 | 18,434 | 84.4% | 48 | 7.55 | 161 |
| 10 | Deal | £296,830.28 | 319,396 | 77.4% | 58 | 7.59 | 158 |
The full study can be found here.
You can read more about buying a second home in this feature.
