300% on second homes

yes I had sort of worked out the difference. The problem of economically deprived "unattractive" areas in England though is not primarily, I suspect, the inability of local people to afford houses. It is the lack of employment, and poor transport links.I do think the root of the problem is with the govt, over decades, not investing in infrastructure, factories (of course we have no industry here any more, other than services). It is very easy to blame older people who were able to buy houses in their 20s/second homers/migrants/etc when the root of the problem is lack of investment, particularly in affordable and social housing, education and transport. I do wonder at what point the British will look at social problems and see them as largely a failure of government, rather than one particular group in society. Incidentally, in my village nearly all "second homes" have been bought by the French, we have two "foreign" households - both Belgian. x

Pinkhousegirl France is not Britain and the situation is very different there. We have a second home in Normandy and know the situation there.

France is over twice as big as the UK with much the same population. Until the 1960s a very large proportion of the population still w0rked on the land, 4 or 5 times the protprtion working on the lan

In the 1960s,70s, and 80s, there was massive rural depopulation encouraged by government policy as farmi became more efficient and small farm holdings were brought together to make larger more efficient land holdings. This means that many rural properties were completely abandoned and the countryside was littered with abandoned homes.

This is why in the 1980s British people, with their enjoyment of DIY started realising just how cheap property in France was and started buying up these derelict rural homes and doing them up. It was what we did in the early 1990s.

In Britain it is very different, as it is in Netherlands, Belgium and parts of Germany. Populations are expanding fast, and there are problems finding land and housing for everyone, so if lots of people descend on a popular area and start buying up the properties it causes real husing problems.

People are buying holiday homes in well-populated areas likeDevon, Cornwall. in the Cotswolds. I have yet to hear that they are buying up second homes in the north pennines, or northeast or Morecambe or other places that would really benefit from economic rejuvenation

In France in the most depopulated area, Foreigners buying up and renovating properties are a boon and a blessing and help revive moribund communities.

In Britain second home buyers are a blight on the landscape and the already well populated honeypots they buy drive locals out of the area and unable to stay in the areas they were born in.

*part of the country.

I live in East Anglia and this is another part of the plagued by second home owners. Many people cannot afford a first home as the prices have risen so high and the ownership of second homes must play quite a large part of it. I am all for the 300%.

All for it. Hope it includes Airbnb accommodations. So many properties that could be used for rented housing is bought and used for pure profit and nothing else. Unfortunately higher taxes will just be passed on to the Airbnb users.

at the risk of being torn limb from limb I would quietly put the pov of a person with a second home. It is exactly that, I spend ore than half the year in it. It is in rural France, in an area which, until recently suffered, as many poor rural areas do, from a population drain to big cities. Because of the internet, and the huge boost which was given to remote working by the pandemic, the 27 houses which were for sale three years ago are now all sold, there is massive building and restoration work going on, providing work for the economy. We now have a restaurant and a cafe, and the school has 30 pupils (it was previously in danger of closing). The second home phenomenon which you speak about exists in France as well. Many mayors have doubled or trebled the council tax on owners of houses which are vacant for more than three months of the year, thus encouraging people who want to live there to come, and discouraging those who can afford to buy a house and live in it for four weeks in August. Our cities are expensive and overcrowded, many rural areas (mine anyway!) are much healthier places to live and bring up all children. I welcome the boost to the local economy and the reanimation of what was a dying village. x

Although Amalegra - I 100% agree with you about affordable rents.

Second homes have destroyed so many villages/communities around me (Devon/Cornwall border). Holiday homes in particular because they are not available for long term rent. I don't really have an issue with landlords renting to families - providing they act as responsible landlords.

There was a real problem last summer staffing summer businesses down here, especially Cornwall (cafes, restaurants etc) because there was nowhere for staff to live.

I'd like to see them taxed a lot more. And the business loophole closed and them banned in certain areas. I know it sounds extreme but they are so damaging to communities.

The whole housing market including rentals, buy to lets, holiday homes, air bnb etc is totally out of kinder. House prices are too high to enable first time buyers to get a foot on the ladder without family help, rents are soaring, social housing is a joke and far too many second homes/air bnbs around to complicate things further. Successive governments of all parties have promised to tackle this crisis but have failed miserably. Until we have a decent and coherent housing policy in place accompanied by massive onward investment, this farce will continue. Example: three bed council house (rare as gold!) rented by my daughters mil= £470 per month. Same house exactly up the road rented by my daughter and her family by a private landlord (who bought it cheaply when the owner eventually died- he owns several) = £1050 per month. Air bnbs can profit from many times the amount a reasonably priced rental can achieve. House prices raised by companies buying up properties to let- in my area new one bedroom flats on market for £270,000, the same rentals for £950 per month. Utter, utter madness.

Coming from Devon, I don't think it has been done quickly enough, but will only affect the 'poorer' owners, as the London types will see it as kudos they can still afford their summer house...

Living in an area where some villages are almost empty during the winter months, I am all for imposing large council tax charges. I am also for councils putting in place a ban on selling as second homes, places where local people can live and work. Lets repopulate the villages with those who work in the area.

After reading the article I’m a little foggy about this “second home” and “rental home” distinction because they can be very different. The end of the article appears to indicate that this 300% increase to business rate levels is for those who rent out their homes for a significant period of the year for profit, rather than their own personal use as a second base. So if I’m reading it correctly (and happy to be corrected), these properties are generating their owners an income and why shouldn’t they be classified as a business, in my opinion, and therefore pay the going business rates? I therefore assume if only a personal bolt hole for you and your own family only then you’ll only pay normal council tax?

I lived for some time in an area of N Yorkshire and one village in particular had a huge amount of '2nd homes' to the point that from Sep - March it was practically deserted!
Prices went up and many people from the area simply had to move away..

I expect the Queen will be disposing of all her second homes like Balmoral and Sandringham. In France it is quite common for city families to own second rural homes which they inherited when they were country dwellers. Many UK people own French second homes and this does not seem to cause problems (apart from Brexit-related issues for some).

I am having to be a landlord. I have a small flat within my house which I am letting out to help me to pay the bills. I say having to because it isn't a job I cherish.
Strangers sharing my house - it doesn't have its own front door - but needs must.
The people are moving in soon and I am helping them to have a breathing space between selling a house and looking for another in this area.
It doesn't really qualify as having a second home does it!
I will have to declare to the LA that I am no longer eligible for reduced Council Tax as a sole occupier.

Um think this is a tricky one....DS owns a second home in a VERY remote area (no shops/schools/anything!) a lot of the locals have moved away to more populated areas. He has let it long term to local people. DS hopes to eventually move there permanently and have it as his main residence.

No one needs a second home. Very many people need a first home. It's all so wrong.

M0nica

If Gordon Brown had not done everything he could to undermine occupational pensions and other pension plans, the boom in Buy to Let would not have happened.

People started investing in the Buy-to-Let because property seemed a safer investment than anything else. And, to be honest, so has it proved to be. But the cause of the move lies entirely at Brown's door

Too true. Bricks and mortar could not disappear overnight like money in whatever funds.

And on a related topic, there’s always been so much berating of Thatcher for introducing the general* sell-off of council housing, but Labour had 13 years in which to reverse that decision - but they didn’t.

Now why could that be, I wonder? Could it possibly be because they thought it’d cost them votes?

*though it was happening on a smaller scale well before Thatcher. A dd bought an ex council house that had been bought by the former owners in 1971 - as dh found after a good old nose on the Land Reg.
They paid almost exactly 1% of the price dd paid.

GrannyGravy13

How many GN posters and their families have rented holiday cottages/flats/houses over the years?

Should I feel guilty because we have chosen Hoseasons, purpose built for holidays. Or the air b&b, where the owners let out their home for the holiday season,and live in a caravan, to earn some money. No I don’t.

We're talking about balance Grannygravy13. Of course pretty rural villages and seaside towns are going to attract tourists and there's nothing wrong with that. The problem is when large numbers of houses are bought as holiday homes, completely changing the balance of the area and leaving permanent residents to live in bleak deserted communities devoid of essential facilities and services for large parts of the year.

Guilty as charged. Many times.

How many GN posters and their families have rented holiday cottages/flats/houses over the years?

I too agree with Kittylester.

If Gordon Brown had not done everything he could to undermine occupational pensions and other pension plans, the boom in Buy to Let would not have happened.

People started investing in the Buy-to-Let because property seemed a safer investment than anything else. And, to be honest, so has it proved to be. But the cause of the move lies entirely at Brown's door

There is higher stamp duty to pay on any property which isn’t your main home.