one in every eight house is a holiday or second home. France The figure in France was also fairly high in 2008: approximately 10% of all the housing stock was a holiday or second home, but the majority of these were owned by French. There were approximately 300,000 homes, or 1% of the total housing stock which were the property of owners from abroad. Of this percentage 28% were owned by British owners, 14% Italian, 10% Belgian, 8% Dutch, 3% Spanish and 3% American. United States In 2000, 3,578,718, or 3.1% of the American housing stock, were holiday or second homes, compared with 2.7% in 1990, and 1.9% in 1980. 26% of all these are located in the north-eastern states, with approximately 250,199 (7% of all the second homes in the U.S.) located in New York, and Maine having the largest percentage of its housing stock as second homes. Canada Second homes are referred to differently in different parts of the country; in Ontario it is usually 'cottage', while 'cabin' or 'the lake' is used in much of the rest of Canada. In Nova Scotia, it is also usually 'cottage' but sometimes 'camp' or, particularly if large, 'summer home' or 'summer place'. In Quebec French, a cottage or summer dwelling is often referred to as a chalet whether or not it is built in the style of a Swiss chalet or located on a ski hill; the term is used among English-speaking Quebecers as well. Muskoka is referred to as "cottage country" and sees over 2.1 million visitors annually. Among Quebecers, the Laurentides (or "Laurentians") is an area for weekend and vacation homes. On the East Coast, the Maritimes are home to oceanfront cottages. Likewise, British Columbia on the West Coast is another vacation destination. In the Canadian Prairies and British Columbia Interior, vacation properties are located near or on freshwater lakes. Costs and effects Financial and legal implications In the UK, furnished holiday lettings offer other tax relief providing certain conditions are met. The current conditions are: It should be available for commercial letting to the public for a total of 140 days in the 12-month period. It must be let for at least 70 days in the 12-month period. (Where more than one qualifying property is held, it is possible to average the number of days all properties are let in total in order to meet this condition.)