300% on second homes

I think I disagree with most of you. 300% is not enough for a home that's empty for most of the year. It needs to be enough to pay for the things the residents are not paying for because they're not there. It needs to contribute to a proper bus network, for people who need a bank but live in a village where the banks have closed down due to lack of usage or lack of staff, to visit the nearest swimming pool and library, to visit friends who live further away than they can walk. Etc.
In other words, people who don't live there should pay for all the services they're "blocking" by keeping an empty home.
They should also pay additional amounts to cover the cost of inflation to house prices, to enable young people to buy.
In truth, people should not be allowed to buy somewhere to keep empty for most of the year until everyone in the country has somewhere to live.

We have lived for many years in what I think most folk would describe as a very nice house, but I remember a friend who we met when we lived abroad, coming here for the first time and asking "Is this your only house?"

It was quite common before WW2 for upper middle class families to have a second home in the South West, for example. But increasing prosperity has opened that possibility to many middle class and some working class families (especially in France). And for some people it is a pension investment. It's not so much an issue of principle as the problem created by greater access just as mass tourism by air has brought environmental problems which did not exist when only the rich could afford it.

jaylucy

I was astounded to find out today that something like 20% of house sales in Northamptonshire are to overseas "investors"
All very well, but like other parts of the country it means that once again , the local people will be outpriced the next time the houses are put back on the market, so more and more overpriced and also over sized houses are being built often on what was farmland.
Whatever happened to 2 bedroom starter homes ? When was the last time that you saw them being built on new estates ? They are all 4 bedroom plus now! How do young couples get their foot on the housing ladder?

1 in 5 house sales in Northamptonshire is to a foreign investor? I'd like to see your evidence for that. Maybe 20% of flats on one development were sold to foreign investors, it happens. However you then have homes for rent to people who can't afford to buy. If local people were able to afford to buy these properties I expect they would have done so.

I had an Industrial Injury after working in that workplace for 21 years. The injuries needed discs removed from my neck and cages put in. I also had bad mobility problems from my lower spine. The accident happened nearly 12years ago and I still have ongoing problems. I'm going into hospital on Wednesday for denervation in the right side of my lumbar spine to be followed up in about a fortnight by the same in my left lumbar spine.
My mobility is abysmal.
We are converting a ground floor room into a bedroom for me. I need a Tempur adjustable bed and Tempur original neck pillow.
I have a Swedish Walker (Trionic Veloped) to help me to walk for a few minutes and then sit for a few minutes. It's a snailspace way of walking. In cold weather or wet weather I'm unable to go out as I'm unable to keep warm enough or dry enough.
I worked in a school and my doctor told me that I would need to sue County. I was upset about this as I had loved my job looking after SEN secondary pupils.
When County eventually paid up after going to court, we put that amount together with my husband's money from his parents death and bought a small 2 bedroomed semi in the Basingstoke area. We rent that out and have only had 2 tenants in 8 years. We keep everything as good as we would like it to be and don't charge 'top whack'.
We didn't take out a mortgage or any other type of loan. We pay our full amount of Income Tax every year.
We did this because I was told that I would need more help in the future and we knew if we just left our money in the bank that it would become progressively of less value and my health was only going to become progressively worse.
I don't consider that I am doing the same sort of thing as a property that only has holiday visitors and that makes the surrounding locale a ghost town.
I really need this income to keep the rented property in excellent condition (we spent 11K 3 years ago between tenancies) and also to have some money for our own use to help with jobs that I'm now unable to do and my husband's unable to do what he used to do as he's had a quadruple heart bypass operation.
I really don't need people being aggressive about second houses as mine certainly isn't a second home for us!
My apologies if I've been a bit bitter about this but I don't think that we're trying to get more than we are able to.

@casdon running a small holiday cottage as a business is most definitely not a huge money making enterprise. There are an enormous amount of ongoing expenses to sustain the quality of the upkeep. I do run a holiday cottage and it makes slightly more than the running costs. Previously, I rented this house out to a family of six, (four children) with pets and benefits claimants. I had a social conscience and thought that I was helping a family find accommodation which they would have difficulty to find due to being unemployed, with pets, and four children. This family repaid me by destroying the house and getting into months of arrears. In the end I had to have them evicted as we needed the income to pay the mortgage. The house was my mother’s and left to my sister and myself. It is now used all year round by people taking holidays and spending time and money in the village. I cannot afford to pay cleaners so do all the change overs myself. We do not have holidays abroad any more because of climate change and will not fly. This place we use for our own holidays and share it with other families for their holidays. It pays for itself but only turns over a small profit which is ploughed back into the house as maintenance and repairs. We pay full council tax on it even though we don’t live in the area. I tried renting it to a needy family but was taken advantage of. The village is seasonal, main industry is fishing. Most jobs are quite a commute away. I think I am bringing benefits to the village and my conscience is clear.

Any charge on second homes is welcomed. Stopping outsiders from buying ANY home in the future is a must, not just new builds. Villages and towns are dying and young people are having to leave the place they were born because they can't afford to live there.

I was astounded to find out today that something like 20% of house sales in Northamptonshire are to overseas "investors"
All very well, but like other parts of the country it means that once again , the local people will be outpriced the next time the houses are put back on the market, so more and more overpriced and also over sized houses are being built often on what was farmland.
Whatever happened to 2 bedroom starter homes ? When was the last time that you saw them being built on new estates ? They are all 4 bedroom plus now! How do young couples get their foot on the housing ladder?

Honestly, no-one needs a second home, however much they may want one, do they?

Until everyone in any country can afford a decent home for themselves, I think it only right that those who can afford a second home, should pay a luxury tax on it.

It is a luxury, far beyond the dreams of many people, after all.

It should be controlled so that it doesn't effect the local communities. However sometimes a 2nd home is used as a rental property to bolster up someones pension. It is something I thought about a few years ago before I lost my husband. Buying a smaller place to live in and buying a 2nd small flat to provide an income in retirement. I don't agree that they should be left empty for most of the year though.

Josieann

^Nobody needs a second home^. Nobody needs 3 holidays a year, nobody needs more than 1 car, nobody needs ensuite bathrooms or swanky kitchens, nobody needs private schooling or private healthcare, but in a free market economy this is what happens.

True. But in this case some people's want is at the expense of another person's need, which is the point of this thread.

It's not just in holiday areas that second home ownership causes problems. In my local area there are many young people who cannot afford to buy a house in the area where they grew up. When a new development is built there are lots of buyers snapping up a second property to let out. The problem is that houses have become investments not just homes. A home is something that every one is entitled to and the sad fact today is that many people do not have a "first" home let alone a second one.

Nobody needs a second home. Nobody needs 3 holidays a year, nobody needs more than 1 car, nobody needs ensuite bathrooms or swanky kitchens, nobody needs private schooling or private healthcare, but in a free market economy this is what happens.

Skydancer

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.

Hear hear! Ban second homes for heaven's sake who the diddle NEEDS two homes?!?!? If someone insisted on buying a property secondary to their main residence(electoral roll home) then agree it with gusto!!!......at 3x market value plus a ground rent premium of £3k pa surcharge to compensate for the effects of removing housing stock from the local economy.simples! In my wonderful world ? funds could be utilised to build starter priced homes at a sizeable discount for local first time buyers with stipulation of minimum 5years' occupation to keep market from getting too warm buyback scheme ensures properties remain in the local 'pool' of properties.

But in France there is so much less pressure on land and property prices. Also, where we are, the holiday home communities are almost separate places from those where permanent residents live.

In the past, except for fishing villages and ports, and these are few and far between in my area of Nrmandy, you will have a village called, say, Merville, a mile inland and a normal busy community, then where the parish has a border ot the coast there will be a small holiday community called, in this case; Merville plage (Merville beach).

The houses, almost without exception, will be holiday homes, built as such over the last 100 plus years and almost without any permanent residents. The locals have more sense and keep inland away from winter storms, flooding and wave damage.

I agree with happysexagenerian it's about achieving a fair balance. Obviously tourism is important in coastal and many rural areas. But so is sustaining viable and supportive communities. Allowing 80 percent of available housing stock to be bought as holiday homes is eroding rural life in many attractive areas.

If hotels and restaurants know they are going to need additional staff every year, then how would people feel about them buying up properties to accommodate the workers?

Our local Facebook page is full of adverts for jobs cleaning holiday cottages, working in cafes and hotels etc and most of them can't fill the vacancies because people coming into the area can't find anywhere to live. This applies to key workers too - there are applicants for teaching and nursing jobs but people can't find a long term rental and can't afford the inflated purchase prices so don't come.

In our village almost every other property is a second home or holiday let. In the winter the village is like a ghost town. When we moved here locals were naturally curious about us and sometimes a little 'cool' - until they knew we would be living here, then their attitude changed and was far more welcoming.

The holiday-let visitors might go to the pub or buy a few essentials in the village shop, but usually they arrive with a boot load of groceries from a supermarket. They don't use the transport services because they all come by car or coach. Even in the holiday season our local bus rarely has more than 5 people on it, including the driver!

The second homes are empty for most of the year except a few weeks in the summer. During the height of the pandemic lots of second home owners took refuge here and it was made clear to them that they were not welcome, and they were often refused service in shops, pubs, restaurants etc. The villages are close communities where strangers or infrequent residents are easily noticed.

We shop locally several times a week and of course use local services etc. The local pub has changed hands 3 times and shut down twice in the past 10 years. The Post Office now only opens 3 days a week, a real inconvenience for older people who don't drive. We no longer have a resident vicar, we have to share one with a neighbouring village.

I'm not saying that people shouldn't be able to own second homes or holiday lets, but there should be sensible limits on how many are allowed in any one area.

I don't think the British are unique in having 2nd homes on the coast. Where we have a property in western France by the sea most of the places are owned by Parisians. My friend is an estate agent near St. Tropez and she said the majority of villas are owned by Russians, and the smaller apartments by Parisians.

It's a vicious circle really. Seaside towns and pretty villages are being turned into holiday resorts at the expense of normal everyday life.
So the local hospital is merged with one further away and the school closes down, along with the post office, the library, the police station, the bank, the solicitors office, the GP surgery, most of the shops, the hairdressers, the local riding school etc removing huge amounts of local employment. The area is then totally dependent on the tourist trade to bring money into the area and provide seasonal employment for those who remain living there. So incentives to encourage tourism are needed.

I believe 300% is too much and 200% would be fairer. I live near mountains in Wales and many holiday cottages would be useless for first time buyers as they are too out of the way. For these dwellings I would not increase the tax at all as they are at least preserving a good deal of Welsh heritage. The Council would clearly delineate the difference in type of property. Whatever we think of second homers they do bring income into areas which would be worse off without it.

Not just pushing up house prices.
The effect this is having on wild life is showing in the amount of land, home to much of our wild life ,now being used to build housing estates with properties affordable to the younger generation.

We have a lot of industry here Pinkhousegirl but obviously manufacturing industry is going to be concentrated in urban areas.
I don’t understand your last paragraph - how is it that if nearly all second homes in your village have been bought by French people you have two ‘foreign’ households, both Belgian???

Great ideas, I wish Council’s in North Yorkshire would do it too. And stop second home/holiday let owners avoid tax by claiming Small Business Tax Relief. Our local estate agents annoy me by including in their blurb ‘ideal as a second home’.