To ask the Minister for Communities (i) for his assessment of the negative impacts of second home ownership; and (ii) to detail any plans he has to address this.

There is very limited data available on second homes which makes it difficult to establish their extent, location and what impacts they may have.

For example, the latest Census for Northern Ireland showed that six percent of all houses had no usual residents. There are a range of possibilities for this including that they are truly vacant, being renovated, self-catering/short-term lets or second homes.

My Department and the Housing Executive are beginning research on second home ownership to improve our understanding of the issues.