secondary home while legally separated

I am legally separated and responsible to purchase a second home for my spouse. In trying to get a loan and the bank wants to classify it as an investment home instead of a secondary home. The second house is 20 miles away and not within the guideline of 50 miles away. My income can support both homes. The lender asked me to justify why its should be a secondary home. Any advise?

This is an Irish site; I suspect from your post that you are not based in Ireland & so any advice from here may not be applicable to you.