Second Home owners doing sad faces in the press about council tax increase

They are affordable, well within the reach of local people. One of the problems is the ones who would buy don’t want to start small and move up, they want a 3 bed house as a starter home and it doesn’t work that way.

Purpose built holiday accommodation on a site they got some discount on a site is not the same. Ditto static caravans and lodges.

100% agree. Although at least that stopped them moaning about VAT being on their private school fees.

I did think that, but spoke to a lady I know recently whose son is very differently abled from birth. He’s non verbal, in his 20s now, and requires a van with hoist and full electric wheelchair access to travel anywhere.

They bought a holiday home from new build, on a purpose built holiday site, not taking a permanent home from any local, to use for him and to let out. Fully adapted. With hoist, ramp etc.

They did let out in between their own stays, and it was hugely popular, and as such they qualified for business rates relief. But the effort of having to go down to remove all their own equipment leaving just the standard disabled access equipment was just too much. The agency wouldn’t do it for them, and they also didn’t want to risk anything being broken, as it is all so expensive.

So now they keep it for themselves. It is their only possible holiday. And the council tax has just increased hugely with the changes. They are considering having to sell it or rent and not go themselves any more.

They don’t qualify for a council tax reduction for him, as they claim it on their own home.

Ironically, their local council will probably now have to pay for more respite stays for him.

Are they affordable for people who want to live in that village? Are there well paying jobs within commuting distance paying sufficient to allow locals to get a mortgage for them? I suspect they're priced at a level that excludes younger people and those working in the immediate area.

@Oldtigernidster do you not think it’s more likely that the locals can't afford to buy (due to house prices being driven up by people buying holiday homes/second homes) rather than preferring to rent?

I wouldn’t mind so much if the locals actually wanted to buy property but they don’t, they prefer to rent and don’t want the responsibility of being a home owner. I live in a village with over 25% over homes being holiday and second homes. There are presently 5 or 6 houses for sale but they don’t look like being bought any time soon so eventually they will end up going the same way.

London boroughs are the first councils who should be introducing this charge.

I can't see how they are beneficial to the local amenities. They're not in use 365 days per year. The occupants aren't using the schools, libraries, public transport at commuter times, etc., nor "normal" shops - they're just using the touristy shops, cafes, etc for the peak weeks. Businesses can't survive all year round half of the year being very busy and completely dead the rest of the year.

You may feel a warm glow for buying some souvenirs, a few groceries, and having a few meals, but that's of no comfort for the remaining locals who don't have a school nor library anymore, no public transport to get them to work early enough in the morning, etc.

Locals want proper shops for their day to day spending, not twee little gift shops selling home made candles and boxes of fudge with postcards stuck to the front.

Problem is the second home owners who visit only occasionally and don't let friends and family use it, or let it out.

Yep. I live in an area popular with tourists and second home owners. It's a remote area. The three houses nearest to me are almost always empty. One is owned by a couple from the USA who visit maybe twice a year for a week at a time. One is owned by an ex-pat living in Europe. She visits even less than the other couple, think she's been twice in the last 3 years for a couple of days each time. Nobody else ever uses these houses. The last house is a new build that nobody has moved into or even visited yet. These three houses are contributing virtually nothing to local community and there's a terrible shortage of housing for locals.

Ah! We could all have 2 houses each if it wasn't for the bloody foreigners.

We bought our 2nd home in the 90s when there was surplus, not our fault the government decided to let in another 10 million people.

Because second home owners do not rent. They go themselves a few weeks here and there…locals can’t buy their house and they don’t participate in the economy.

Problem is the second home owners who visit only occasionally and don't let friends and family use it, or let it out. There was a recent thread on here about a well off family who owned a holiday home and visited 2 x 1 week a year, but didn't allow any (less well off) members of family use property. Only time anyone else was allowed was as unpaid housekeeper/gardener to spruce things up before owners visited.
I think Wales (?) have right idea and 2nd home owners should pay at least twice council tax.

Isn’t the problem when it comes to the housing crisis more about lack of affordable housing and lack of council housing in particular. 2nd homes are not the whole picture. There should be quotas and licensing to ensure balance and to ensure there are not ghost towns and villages outside of summer. Aside from that the government need to step up and ensure there is more social and affordable housing. Blaming 2nd home owners is an over simplistic view and takes the spotlight away from the government and policy failures. Sure 2nd home owners can pay more council tax, all that does is push up the price of a self-catering holiday. Who is that helping exactly?

Is this going to be applied to London too?

It would be charged to the estate. The problem in recent years has been the massive delays in getting probate even on very straightforward estates. Its reasonable to expect relief on the charge when the property is empty awaiting probate but not all LAs do this.

Similarly the quoted rule about 12 months relief when a property is marketed is not automatic - it varies by LA.

In both cases you need to check the rules within the LA.

And yet that is exactly what comes out of a lot of local government stats on ownership - second homes/holiday homes/air bnbs are more likely to be owned within the local government area.

Ultimately you can put 1000% on private second homes CT or force sales - its a drop in the ocean compared to the total number of empty properties nationally . Do it by all means but don't think its going to fix the problems of lack of work and transport which are the real reasons people move away from such areas. Its lack of work and transport which destroys communities.

Every person I know who has left their rural childhood home did so for work, not housing. Without regular work they cannot afford housing even if its cheap - hence villages where properties are priced at the level of a second hand car. Tourism may prevent property prices from plumeting in that way but it rarely provides enough of the full term permanent contract jobs needed to sustain morgages, tenancies and communities and if the balance of tourism vs other industry is out of kilter it can make the good quality job situation worse.

The housing crisis itself is far more complex than can be solved by a extra percentage point on council tax revenues which is probably why successive governments have failed to deal with it successfully. Its a great policy to look as if you are doing something (which was probably one of the attractions for Gove when implementing it). One of those complexities in the past has been councils more interested in protecting local vested interests than local people and failing to plan for or foster other industry in the area, even when benefitting from central or EU cash.

Sure but it's still a second home.

Those who inherit are free to sell, gain £££ and avoid the extra taxes. Not such a terrible choice!

I agree with the general premise of what you are saying, that equating additional charges on 'second cars' as equivalent to additional charges on second homes is ridiculous. However, to be more precise, we don't have a housing shortage. We have a major shortage of affordable homes, both to rent and to buy. We have shortages in certain areas but not throughout the country. Homes that are unoccupied (second homes not rented out full time)exacerbates the problem of both local shortages (where they exist) and affordability. Additional taxes to discourage this is a positive thing and should have been done decades ago.

The first poster is paraphrasing what they saw on Apple News, they are not the second homeowner.

I jointly inherited my Dad's house. It didn't make any of us second home owners because we sold it asap. A family lives in it now.

I think council tax is payable 6 months after probate is granted.

I’m thinking if your relative dies can the council start charging council tax to inheritor or do they have to wait for probate or does the CT become part of the estate itms

this is different to buying a second home surely

I agree with the higher council tax, empty propertied should even attract an additional rate. A holiday let can be beneficial to the local area, the issue is when they are left empty!