Holiday homeowners asked to fill in two census forms

Thousands of holiday and second homeowners who enjoyed the great Easter getaway on Good Friday need to be egged on to do their census questionnaires, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Many property owners are not aware that ONS is asking them to complete questionnaires at both their usual address and their holiday/second home. Where they have completed one at their usual address they need only complete part of the questionnaire at their holiday home/second residence.

Both the census helpline and census online help facility have been busy answering queries from owners of holiday homes/second residences asking what they need to do. This has been one of the top 5 queries.

Glen Watson, ONS Census Director said: "It's not too late for people to fill in their census and that includes those with second residences/holiday homes. It really is important we have a full picture of houses throughout England and Wales. People sometimes don't realise we need the details of holiday homes/second residences too, even if no one was there on Census Day March 27.

"We need to know because the census is a count of both population and housing. And we need to know how the housing stock is used in addition to the count of properties to better plan resource allocation.

"Local authorities asked us to include the second homes question as they need to know how many houses need to be built in future and what services will be required. The number of people living in Devon in March for example is a lot less than in July because the county has so many holiday homes/second residences. So the size of the housing stock on its own is only half the picture and local authorities won't be able to judge the need for new housing without the knowledge of its use."

The last census in 2001 recorded over 150,000 holiday and second homes in England and Wales.

If people are in any doubt with their census they can get help on the website at www.census.gov.uk or ring the census helpline on 0300 0201 101 (England) and 0300 0201 130 (Wales).

Advisors can guide callers through the process.

The 10 local authorities with the highest proportions of holiday/second homes in
2001 were:

Isles of Scilly (25%)
South Hams, Devon (11%)
City of London (10%)
Gwynedd (8%)
South Lakeland (8%)
North Norfolk (7%)
Eden, Cumbria (6%)
Pembrokeshire (6%)
Richmondshire (6%)
Purbeck, Dorset (5%)

More detailed instructions on what people need to do for the census for holiday homes and second residences are available at http://www.census.gov.uk/