Specialist lender Hodge has reported that the average purchase price of a holiday home has risen by 12% in the past six months.

In October 2020, the average purchase price of a holiday let mortgage application through Hodge was £387,993. That increased to £435,476 in March 2021. A 12% increase over just six months.

Hodge has also seen a 30% leap in holiday let mortgage applications in the six months to March 2021, with the average mortgage also increasing by 7% over that time.

Pervious research from Hodge found that the most popular destination for holiday let buyers was the South West with 39%, followed by Wales at 19% and the North West at 12%.

Emma Graham, business development director at Hodge, said: “It is not surprising that the popularity of our holiday let mortgage products continue to grow at pace. The stamp duty holiday has no doubt helped drive more interest in second homes, as has the fact that Brits are not yet permitted to holiday abroad and some might also be afraid to do so.

“When developing our holiday let proposition, we collaborated with our brokers and found their customers wanted more control over their holiday homes so our mortgages allow them to use letting sites such as Airbnb. We also found that owners wanted to enjoy their holiday homes and stay themselves, and so allowing them to stay at the property for up to 90 days per annum has proved very popular.”