Holiday home abroad: Which ownership model is right for you?

Full ownership, buying with family or friends, or professionally organised co-ownership? There are several ways to own a holiday home abroad, each with different implications for control, financial commitment and responsibility.

When the idea of a holiday home abroad starts to become real, the search usually begins with location. Provence or Piedmont? Mallorca or Cote D’Azur? A house or an apartment? Sea views, a pool, or somewhere within walking distance of town?

Yet there is another decision worth making early on: How do you want to own?

Traditionally, having a place of your own abroad meant buying an entire property. Today, different forms of co-ownership offer additional options, making the way a holiday home is owned an important part of the decision.

Understanding the differences before falling in love with a particular house or apartment can help you choose a form of ownership that suits both your budget and the way you actually want to spend your holidays.

Full ownership

The traditional route is straightforward: You buy a house or apartment and own the entire property yourself.

That gives you full control over how and when it is used, how it is furnished, who has access and what happens to it over time. You benefit from any increase in value, but also bear the full impact if the property falls in value.

At the same time, everything that comes with owning abroad needs to be taken care of: local taxes, insurance, maintenance, contractors and administration, either by you or through local partners.

Full ownership can be an excellent fit for people who feel strongly about one particular place, expect to spend significant time there and value having complete control over their home.

Buying with family or friends

Another option is to buy a holiday home with people you already know.

Sharing the purchase can reduce both the initial investment and the running costs and may make it possible to buy a property that none of the owners would choose to purchase alone.

The key is to agree on the practicalities before they become an issue.

Who gets which weeks? How are costs divided? Who decides when major improvements are needed? And what happens if one person eventually wants to sell?

Private co-ownership can work extremely well when everyone wants the same shared home and is comfortable establishing and managing the arrangements together. Personal trust matters, but clear agreements are just as important.

Professionally organised co-ownership

A professionally organised model works differently. Several families own property together, while the framework for use, administration and management is established from the outset.

Arrangements vary between providers, so it is important to understand exactly what you are buying, how stays are allocated, what the ongoing costs include and how a share can later be sold.

At MyHomes, for example, 29 families co-own a collection of five houses and apartments across different European destinations through an owners’ association. MyHomes establishes and administers the association, finds and develops the properties and handles booking and day-to-day management.

Use of the homes is shared between the owners rather than being unrestricted throughout the year. In return, each family co-owns several holiday homes, while the practical side is handled professionally.

The same holiday home, two different ways of owning it

The Wright family offers an unusual real-life example because they have experienced two forms of ownership with exactly the same property.

For more than 20 years, the family owned a country house in Seillans, Provence. As they began using it less, they considered bringing friends in as co-owners. But questions about how to divide stays, maintenance costs, decision-making and a future sale led them to explore other possibilities.

In 2025, they sold the house to MyHomes and bought a share in the owners’ association that the property became part of.

They can still return to the home that has been at the heart of family holidays for decades. The difference is that they now share ownership with other families, no longer manage the day-to-day running of the house themselves and also co-own four other holiday homes in Europe.

The house did not change. The experience of owning it did.

Their experience illustrates why the way a property is owned is more than a financial arrangement. It influences how the home is used, managed and enjoyed.

Further reading:
Read the Wright family’s full story at MyHomes or the family’s story in The Times.

And what about renting?

There is, of course, another perfectly valid option: not owning at all.

If being able to choose a different country, city or type of accommodation for every trip matters most, renting may be the better fit. There is no capital tied up in a property and no responsibility for maintaining it.

The difference is that you do not own the property or have the same familiar home to return to year after year.

That too is worth considering.

Choose how you own as carefully as what you buy

There is no single model that suits everyone.

An apartment on Mallorca that is entirely your own may be perfect for one family. Sharing a house in Provence with relatives may work beautifully for another. For others, professionally organised fractional ownership can offer the combination of property ownership, variety and convenience they are looking for.

The right choice depends on how you travel, how much you want to invest, how involved you want to be and what you want from a holiday home in the first place.

Because you are not only choosing a property. You are also choosing how you want to own it.