300% on second homes

It seems a good idea to me for all the reasons already given. We sold our parents home on the south coast several years ago. It was a tiny bungalow in need of total refurb, valued at half a million. The agent said it would be snapped up by people from London as a 2nd home. It was, within a week.
If it had been in the north west - 150,000 max.

These aren't "second homes", they are just used for holidays. A former neighbour has a holiday home in Cornwall - he uses it for perhaps 4 weeks a year and doesn't rent it out. I recall when he bought it he was annoyed because "locals" had driven the price up and he had to pay more than he wanted! He couldn't see the irony in that. I am in total agreement with these owners paying much higher council tax

I'm going to comment that for some owners these homes away are actually what they regard as their favourite main family homes. Their London dwellings are just a pied à terre and they wouldn't live in them if it weren't for work and the kids' schooling. I think it will need more than an increase in council tax to stop the influx.

I can't tell you how miserable it is living near these houses that are shut up and dark for 11 months of the year.

Witzend rightly says that in towns and cities young people are priced out too. I suppose the difference is that there is more, year round work for the young. In rural and coastal areas work is often seasonal and poorly paid - there are no options but to move, especially now the holiday/air bnb markets swallow rental properties up.

Josieann

I'm going to comment that for some owners these homes away are actually what they regard as their favourite main family homes. Their London dwellings are just a pied à terre and they wouldn't live in them if it weren't for work and the kids' schooling. I think it will need more than an increase in council tax to stop the influx.

If they spend a significant portion of the year there, use all the local facilities - the library, the drs surgery, the post office, the shops etc, support local clubs and organisations and have a genuine connection to the area that's one thing.
If the drive down for a couple of weeks in the Summer and the odd bank Holiday with a boot full of groceries and otherwise leave the house empty or rented out during the Summer months to tourists then they are killing the local economy, massively reducing the need for facilities that permanent residents must now do without all year around and creating soulless bleak towns and villages that were once thriving communities.

Totally agree that holiday home owners should pay more council tax. I would take it further and make buy to let more expensive.
We live in an area with a fast train service into London. Lots of one bedroom flats have been built and offices have been converted into apartments. A good 80%+ are owned by either buy to let or people who live there Monday to Friday and go home to their permanent homes at the weekend. This has pushed the price of housing up to a level that is unaffordable for most young people and as they are predominantly one bedroom they can’t even share with a friend.

If they spend a significant portion of the year there, use all the local facilities - the library, the drs surgery, the post office, the shops etc, support local clubs and organisations and have a genuine connection to the area that's one thing.

The thought that people who have a pied a terre in London and a 'favourite family home' in the country might m those guys parking up their spanking clean 4x4 and using the bus service, popping into the Spar for some spaghetti hoops or playing for the local bowls club. As for the idea that Mrs DownFromTown would have her highlights done at our little local salon, buy her holiday wardrobe in M&Co or get her kids teeth seen to by our local dentist... probably not.

A big chunk of my post seemed to disappear there...but you get my drift.

I agree with you Coastpath, nó matter how much you love a place, if you can't spend a significant proportion of your time there, then it's not your main home no matter how much you might like to think it is.
You don't send your children to school there, or get your car serviced by a local mechanic, or open an account in a local bank, or join a weekly yoga class or become a member of the Church choir or the local theatre group. And the more people who can't do those things the quicker a community dies.

sodapop

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 completely agree with you. Second home ownership has had a devastating effect on local communities in many coastal areas. No one needs a second home. It is quite easy to rent a house off someone local or stay in a caravan or B&B

It’s a double edged sword, for Wales and other tourist areas, you want to provide houses and employment for the locals and increase tourism at the same time.
A tax on houses that are unoccupied for most of the year is fair enough, although if you have that kind of money you can afford 300% council tax.
Increased tax on holiday let’s which provide employment as well as tourism income is harder to justify, when I’m on holiday there is often a “tourist tax” of around 5% so some extra is justified.

Wales also has rules surrounding local housing as I have noticed myself some of the houses are at a lower price under some sort of local occupancy scheme, so housing for local people must be a problem in lots of places.

Where I live, in North of Scotland, the problem is not so much second homes as houses being let as holiday accommodation.
These are legitimate businesses for local people & bring income to the area but the resort is that there are very few properties available to rent.

I am in favour of higher council tax on second homes.

* the result

Holiday lets don’t provide employment, just a cleaner, and doesn’t bring tourism income where I live in Wales, the mountains are free to climb .

I wouldn’t be in favour of an increased council tax on buy to let properties because they are providing rented accommodation for people who can’t afford to buy and it would be the tenant who had to pay.

I do agree with an increased council tax on second homes and holiday lets. Neither contributes enough to the local economy and it would go some way to addressing that. However anyone who can afford to own a second home or holiday let will also be able to afford an increase in council tax so it will do nothing to make more homes available to local people.

We've rented cottages for a week in the summer for over 15 years. We do try to go for properties which are in isolated positions, or perhaps just part of a farm, rather than village properties. So I suppose I am part of the problem. There is no doubt that the number of holiday cottages has absolutely soared in the last few years. But I have recently moved to the coast and I know a lot of the properties round about me are holiday lets. I've lost count of how many friends have told me they would love to live where I do but couldn't afford it, and prices have soared since I moved.
I think the increased council tax is a good idea. I also like the idea that a holiday cottage should be regarded as a business and taxed accordingly. Inevitably of course the cost will be passed on to those using the holiday let.
I think we need a joined up housing policy which tackles all the problems including this one.
I'd like to see a limit set on the percentage of holiday homes/ lets in any area. Once the level is reached any property sold must be for residents for a specified time or until the percentage reaches a satisfactory level.
I'd like to see the income gained from increased tax spent on affordable housing.
But most of all I'd like to see a proper and effective housing policy which ensured everyone had somewhere to call home.

I would take it further and make buy to let more expensive.

Wouldn't that make rents more expensive?

No one needs a second home. It is quite easy to rent a house off someone local or stay in a caravan or B&B

'Renting a house off someone local' is the reason for a drastic lack of private rental long-term housing, where I am.

FarNorth

I can understand why people who have to live in a city for work would want a home in the country for weekends etc and I don’t object to that but would support an increase in council tax. When they sell their weekend home they will be liable for capital gains tax but that won’t feed into the local economy.
Owners of holiday cottages will also be liable for income tax on rents and CGT on sale as they are running businesses, but again none of this will help the local economy.

Nobody should be allowed a second home until everyone has got a first home, but pigs might fly!
I think many MPs have got second homes so they would be reluctant to vote against their own interests if the 300% was to be proposed as a national tax on second homes.
In my seaside town, many second homes have become Air B&Bs. The original idea for Air B&Bs was that you rented out your spare bedroom to visitors, not buying properties specifically for the purpose of cashing in on the tourist trade and pricing out first time buyers who just want to stay in their home towns.

Buy to Let is a mugs game, you pay Stamp duty on the Purchase, Income Tax on the Rent the CGT on the sale. In addition every stricter regulation for landlords, management fees and the risk of bad tenants.

Why would anyone bother.

Katie59

Buy to Let is a mugs game, you pay Stamp duty on the Purchase, Income Tax on the Rent the CGT on the sale. In addition every stricter regulation for landlords, management fees and the risk of bad tenants.

Why would anyone bother.

Funny that because they do. Perhaps because the going rate for a 2 bedroom flat near me is £700-£1100 per month. That pays an awful lot of tax etc.

Can I just throw a hand grenade here and retreat rapidly. Who is selling these homes to second home owners ? The locals! They enjoy the extra money for a while then complain their children can’t afford anything. There is an area of National Park in the Cairngorms where you can only sell to locals - that is a much better idea.

GrannyGravy13

I agree with kittylester

The spending that visitors do does not maintain the infrastructure for those who still live there when there are no visitors.

Also, we have a shortage of homes. No holiday can justify people being homeless. Anyone who thinks the move hits "normal working people" lives a very sheltered life. When everyone has a home, we could think again.