300% on second homes

I think it's fair enough. Second home owners are ruining the fabric of rural life and pushing up the price of houses for first time buyers

I agree with Beswitched

MsOops lives in Cornwall and can see first hand the effects second home owners have on local communities.

Dee1012 I found myself having a wry chuckle at this statement from the article you highlighted:

Jonathan Martin, who lives in Altrincham, has a second home in Gwynedd and is a spokesman for Home Owners of Wales Group said the move hits "normal working people".

His idea of normal working people must differ radically from mine, because no normal working person I've ever met could afford a second home.

My area in North East Scotland is, like Wales, plagued by people owning second homes which has put local private housing out of the reach of genuine locals. That just isn't fair.

Many young people leaving home want to stay in the area they grew up in, but find themselves priced out of the market and having to move to cities like Aberdeen and Inverness where they can rent a shared flat.

Rent then doesn't leave them any cash to save for a deposit on a house of their own, so they're snookered.

Plus, those empty most of the year second homes are not contributing anything to the local economy and that has a knock on effect all of its own.

So, all in all, I'm with the Welsh Government on this one.

I read today that Southwold was not going to allow second/holiday homes any more. This practice has had such a detrimental effect on some lovely areas of the country. I quite agree with all the steps various councils are taking to put things right. It's going to take a long time to restore things.

I agree with it too. I think second home owners have been very lucky to have Council Tax kept down for so long.

But, if the second homes are let out to holiday makers, are they not bringing in visitors who will spend interest areas? Xx

I agree with kittylester

Holiday makers are usually only there in the Summer. So shops like butchers, fishmongers, greengrocers tend to close down and are replaced by seasonal gify shops, cafés etc. Local schools, post offices, GP surgeries also close down.
Holiday makers also don't join Bridge clubs, choirs, am dram groups and other community activities so they close down.

Nobody needs more than one home. I have seen the effects of second homes near where I live. One pretty village in particular is full of second homes and in winter is absolutely dead. These homes suck the life out of places. If I had my way I would ban them altogether. The Welsh back in the 70s had the right idea which I probably can’t talk about on here as I expect my comments would be withdrawn.

If the second homes are let out then holiday makers come in the summer season, often bringing with them a car full of booze and food rather than shopping locally. Yes, they do spend locally in pubs, cafes etc, but the season is short.

Holiday makers don't use the local services all year round like residents do e.g. schools, buses, dentists, opticians etc. As homes are taken as holiday homes these services become unviable often leaving local people in small towns and rural areas stranded without necessary facilities. Residents of these areas tend to be older and need these facilities at hand.

Many homes in my seaside town are not let out at all, but used only by the owners. They remain empty for 11 months of the year. No lights on. No neighbours. No contribution to the local area at all. Meanwhile young, ordinary families are priced out of the market and so local businesses struggle to find staff and residents can't find tradespeople.

Sorry Beswitched I crossposted and almost repeated what you've just said.

I am in favour, for the reasons listed by Beswitched.

A number of villages around me are full of holiday homes, which means that they are full of tourists in the summer, and deserted in the winter, when the residents have no amenities to keep them going. It becomes a vicious circle when people are priced out to second home buyers, so the school has fewer pupils and closes. Families with young children move out, so there is no need for the mother and baby group, and so on. The same happens with the WI, reading groups and similar social arrangements, as well as the GP and other facilities mentioned above. Even the pub stops being a local as it is full of strangers for most of the year.

I think that the owners who rent the houses out as businesses pay reduced council tax, so the council has less money coming in for local amenities, which also happens where I live (a small town) with the Air B&Bs that have sprung up everywhere. I hope that they are targeted too, if this spreads from Wales to England.

A woman I know has lived all her life in the seaside village she grew up in. She is now selling up and going to li é with her daughter in a nearby town. The village is just too lonely in Winter now. Everything closes down at the end of September - most of the shops, the cafe, the art gallery. There are not enough residents to keep clubs and organisations going, the Church where she used to sing in the choir now shares a vicar with two other Churches so Services are hugely reduced along with Church activities, the local library is closed and the GP surgery only opens for a few hours 3 days a week.
There are no young families around because houses have become too expensive, and the two houses beside her are closed up for most of the year.
She hates leaving but is very lonely there.

I am in total agreement with this where owning second homes is distorting the housing market and pricing houses out of local peoples reach.

I would like to see the same thing done for rented property where Buy to Let and Corporate investors have also lead to house prices rising beyond the reach of local buyers.

It also creates a situation where most local jobs are only seasonal, another factor in driving out young people.

Is the guy in that article truly representative of those who own 2nd homes though? He is complaining he has mortgage debts, when most people I know (myself included) who own 2nd homes buy them outright or inherit them. If people are over committing themselves and can't afford the hike in Council Tax, then they should be questioning the wisdom of having an additional property at all.

How many people who disagree with people having holiday homes have actually rented a holiday cottage in the past few years I wonder? Because the only alternative for people holidaying in this country would be for more caravan parks or hotels. Or to holiday abroad.

I don’t follow that logic, because if you own a holiday home and rent it out you can afford to pay the increased council tax Maybee70.

Sorry. Didn’t read it properly. Just thought it was another ‘people that own a holiday home are horrible people’ thread. Feeling a bit raw and emotional about all the things that are happening at the moment; need a break from news and social media for a while.

Beswitched

I think it's fair enough. Second home owners are ruining the fabric of rural life and pushing up the price of houses for first time buyers

Agreed. 2nd homes price out 1st time buyers and local people. Some of these homes are also left empty for ages.

A second home - holiday home - is a luxury, especially when increased property prices mean that so many people can’t afford to buy a ‘first’ home.
So no, I don’t think it’s unreasonable.

Though I might add that it’s not only in holiday areas where younger people are now priced out. The same would apply to many who grew up in our neck of the outer SW London woods.

M0nica

I am in total agreement with this where owning second homes is distorting the housing market and pricing houses out of local peoples reach.

I would like to see the same thing done for rented property where Buy to Let and Corporate investors have also lead to house prices rising beyond the reach of local buyers.

I agree. I think we need to tackle anything that makes it difficult/expensive for people to buy or rent.

Air B&B returns are greater than ordinary rentals. My seaside town has a real shortage, now, of affordable lettings. It's an expensive place to buy, so many people need to rent. I'm not against Air B&B, I've rented them myself, but I would like the profits to be taxed in some way which supports the local area, levelling the playing field, and, perhaps, encouraging owners to think about letting long term to locals.