Second homes and empty properties

Some of the housing stock in Cumberland is unavailable for use as a permanent home. Primarily these properties are being used as holiday lets or second homes, and many potential homes are standing empty. 

Holiday lets are common in tourist hotspots, such as the Lake District National Park. In October 2024, 1,679 properties in Cumberland were listed on booking websites as available for holiday lets.

Second homes are scattered throughout the National Park and tend to be clustered around urban areas on the coast and in Carlisle. Council Tax figures for 2024 to 2025 show there are 3,162 second homes registered in Cumberland, equivalent to 2.3% of the properties in Cumberland. 

Only three parishes in Cumberland have no second homes registered – Bewaldeth & Snittlegarth, Denton Upper and Kirklinton. The parishes which have the highest percentage of housing stock used as second homes are all in the National Park:

Table 15: parishes in Cumberland with the highest percentage of second homes

Empty homes play a part in a rolling housing market, but properties that are habitually empty don't contribute to housing Cumberland's population and can lead to community breakdown. This breakdown may be caused by the property becoming a target for anti-social behaviour and crime or empty homes becoming so prevalent that they affect the infrastructure of a community.

There are currently 1,808 empty homes in Cumberland. Over 50% of these homes have been empty for between one and four years, with a further 5% empty for more than 10 years.

Table 16: parishes in Cumberland with the highest percentage of empty properties