Second Homes in France
Tuesday 04 August 2015
One in ten homes in France is a second home, concentrated in particular areas of the country, and overwhelmingly owned by French nationals.
Of the circa 250,000 second homes in foreign ownership, around a quarter are held by the British, making them the largest group of international owners.
Not surprisingly, at a regional level the largest number of holiday homes in mainland France is located in sun-drenched Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (377,015), swiftly followed by the winter wonderland of Rhône-Alpes (318,098).
However, in percentage terms it is Languedoc-Roussillon that takes the laurels, with 21% of all properties in second ownership, as can be seen from the following table.
Second Homes by Region | ||
Region | No | % of Total |
Alsace | 18,823 | 2.4% |
Aquitaine | 169,425 | 11.6% |
Auvergne | 74,175 | 12.0% |
Basse-Normandie | 99,242 | 15.3% |
Bourgogne | 66,532 | 9.0% |
Bretagne | 186,372 | 13.0% |
Centre | 72,919 | 6.5% |
Champagne-Ardenne | 22,373 | 3.8% |
Franche-Comté | 30,968 | 6.0% |
Haute-Normandie | 36,097 | 4.6% |
Ile-de-France | 149,775 | 3.0% |
Languedoc-Roussillon | 249,134 | 20.9% |
Limousin | 43,297 | 12.5% |
Lorraine | 33,469 | 3.3% |
Midi-Pyrénées | 136,803 | 10.5% |
Nord-Pas-De-Calais | 51,254 | 3.1% |
Pays de la Loire | 165,815 | 10.7% |
Picardie | 36,184 | 4.6% |
Poitou-Charentes | 98,094 | 12.2% |
Provence-Alpes-Côte D’Azur | 377,015 | 17.3% |
Rhône-Alpes | 318,098 | 11.8% |
Drill down an administrative level to the department and a more substantial degree of concentration in particular areas is evident.
The department with the highest percentage of properties in second ownership is the Hautes-Alpes, where 45% of residential properties are second homes, mostly of course ski chalets or apartments.
The mountain departments in France also have a comparatively high number of holiday homes - Savoie, Lozère, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence where second homes account for over 30% of the stock, and Pyrénées-Orientale, Ariège, Haute-Savoie, Hautes-Pyrénées Creuse, and Cantal where over 20% are second homes.
Other departments with a sizeable percentage stock of second homes have a more canicular basis for their attraction as holiday homes - Var (26%), Aude (26%), Vendée (25%), Alpes-Maritimes (23%), Charente-Maritime (22%), Landes (21%), Hérault (19%) and Lot (19%).
The following graphic gives a pictorial representation of this distribution, with the darker colours indicating those departments with the highest percentage of second homes.

Source: Insee
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