Hollow House Syndrome

Hollow House Syndrome is a descriptive term that encompasses the dark side of what real estate professionals promote as "Holiday Homes". It appears to have originated in England, but has shown up on a local -type web site in New Zealand called www.waihekepedia.com. .

Hollow House Syndrome is the purchase of a second or third home for part time use by the owner, usually in "prime" season, or holidays or weekends. During the time the owner is not in residence the home is locked up empty (not rented and occupied), therefore creating a "hollow" in the economic, social and cultural life of the community. Typically the community is in an area of exceptional character... perhaps in bucolic countryside, by the sea or on an island. Typically the natural and physical environment is attractive with better weather (warm in summer, snow in winter, or invigoratingly bracing).

The term is used with a medical connotation, as in The China Syndrome or a term used in British and ex Colonial countries, the Tall Poppy Syndrome, because it suggests that it is toxic for the community.

As homes owned by full time residents whose earnings power is based on a local economy are purchased by (usually urban dwelling) outsiders who are beneficiaries of the global economy of high salaries, larger bonuses and liberal taxation favoring capital gains, the local community sees its stakeholders displaced by part-time residents. Because these part timers live primarily somewhere else, they cannot participate to the same level in the local economy, its social structure or its culture. Because they displace someone who was full time and did make a local contribution, gradually the community suffers.

Economically, when not in residence they don't support local stores, services, cafes & bistros, so during off seasons these businesses suffer. If the ratio of hollow to filled homes becomes too great the local businesses fail and the locals have to drive long distances to accomplish the mundane chores of daily life. If this happens the community's local economy can hit a critical mass where it collapses, almost all its people sell up to hollow home buyers, only leaving service personnel who look after or market the hollow homes.

Socially, in some cases, the hollow home residents form their own colony and do not associate with the locals. However, if there is enough commonality, they do, but only during prime time when they are in residence. This creates a bond-break, bond-break relationship between locals and part timers, eventually weakening the social network. It also can create a psychological weakening if the part-timers convince the locals that except for prime time, the centre of the universe is somewhere else. The social fabric also weakens as key people, the glue that hold a community together move away. Volunteerism suffers and again, if a tipping point is hit, the community implodes and is destroyed.

Culturally, usually it is the artist who moves away first. The creative class tends to seek out beautiful, inspiring, low-cost places to live and create. They often tend to be what causes the privileged class to notice the location in the first place. This is akin to Gentrification except that in Hollow House Syndrome the gentrifiers are part time, not full time residents. Never the less for the creative class the outcome is the same. They are priced out of the market and the local culture suffers. The same thing occurs for other aspects of local culture - if, for example there is an indigenous class that has a strong cultural identity but lacks the earning power of the hollow home buyers.

It is reported (further documentation needed) that Hollow House Syndrome began in Switzerland in the 1970s when urban dwellers began to buy up ancient homes in Swiss mountain villages. In Devon England locals threatened to paint black spots on homes that were hollow homes . Cornwall is reported to have whole villages where locals are displaced although now squatters are moving into some of them. In France, Peter Mayle's book A Year in Provence seems to have inspired a whole generation of affluent English to buy hollow homes to the point where some villages are empty (this is based anecdotal reports and needs further documentation). In the Basque part of France, they don't use paint, they use bombs to make their point that hollow homes are not welcome.

Hollow Home Syndrome is a term that appears to have emerged since the year 2000. It seems to be a condition that has emerged from changes in the fundamental structure of the western economy in which two classes are emerging out of what was in the 20th century one class - the middle class. One part of this class continued unchanged - effectively based on wage earning, while a new class emerged from it - in which it has gained access to new sources of capital that it has used to buy luxuries. After the new luxury car, overseas travel, branded clothing and products, a symbol of this success is the second home. Unlike the other status symbols, second home purchasing has adverse effects as communities become "hollowed out". Thus, a new term appears to have emerged to describe this change in society.

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