Paying extortionate council tax on second home?

[NotaTorie]

I know how that sounds, but I am a HARD WORKING police officer with a second home in Wales (I live in England).

My council tax has just SHOT UP on my second home. This just doesn't feel fair at all. I contribute. I work so so hard. I don't think its very fair at all.

Are any of you in this position? After not even being able to travel down during covid this feels like such a kick in the teeth.

Not rtft but yes every second home owner should pay council tax wether it’s let out or not.
I lived in a very touristy town with very high council tax on a two up two down. Only about every 3rd house was occupied and the holiday cottages were getting away with business rate exemptions. Why should a local who is just living life and not being greedy have to pay and an investor not pay a penny? The guests are driving on roads, dropping litter, peeing in public loos.
if you can afford a second home you can afford to pay

Absolutely zero sympathy from me too. Second homes are ruining communities who can't afford to buy in their own home town/village because of them....as has been said by dozens of pp on here. The Welsh government has made a wise decision, the costs for a second home should be made so punitive that they are a rarity. Why not sell it to a local person or at least rent it out at a decent low rent so that someone who can't afford to buy locally can do so?
And why 'hard working' has anything to do with I don't know, we're all hard working....some of us for minimum wage and unable to buy anything, never mind a second home.

Oh my heart bleeds… most of us are struggling with first homes. Sell it if you can’t afford it 🙄

All taxing 2nd homes does is penalise people like the OP, who aren't rich, doesn't effect those who really are wealthy and does zero for providing homes for local people, who will never earn enough to buy a house in popular tourist areas.

So our village, along with almost every other village, had a small council house estate, we had about 20, people on low wages predominately lived in them... now all sold off, some are Air BnB's, some are still rented out but at very high rents.

Until we go back to this system of providing affordable rent for the low paid, we wont solve the issues.

Also live in North Wales. Yes I KNOW we need the tourism, but away have said, second homes kill communities. Our local school is threatened with closure despite being in a large (for here) village due to falling roll and every community Facebook group is full of people begging for homes to rent- 2/3 bedroom homes for a local family, like hens teeth as they are all second homes now

Virtually every restaurant/ pub is desperate for staff as well but no one to take those type of jobs because no one can afford to live here on MW

I am lucky enough to have a second home too. Like you, ours was largely unused during 2020 and 2021. Unlike you I appreciate how lucky we are to have this second property and I have no objection for paying council tax to help support much needed services for the local community.

I can't quite believe you are objecting to having to pay for a massive privilege.

This. Time was it would be ash.

Get a grip

Thoughts and prayers

Are you sure he has to? Same position with my DM and they massively reduced her council tax to a small payment

The last ‘hard working police officer’ I saw was on the BBC bleating about how she couldn’t afford to live and had to go to food banks.
Perhaps you could give finance lessons to fellow officers to earn extra to pay the council tax?

IMO if you own a second home you are part of the “elite”

I’m Welsh - worked hard all my life, and it’s the locals priced out of their own villages who I feel sorry for. It’s terrible. The Welsh will never be able to jump a social strata where they compete with English money. Sell a shed in London, and you can buy a 40 acre farm in mid Wales, or a beach cottage in Pembrokeshire.

How can we ever compete?

😂😂🎣 troll

Sorry what does you being in the police have to do with it?? Do you think you need two homes because you are in the police?

Obviously you consider yourself a cut above us “civilians”, otherwise you wouldn’t have mentioned it, how unattractive. This smug entitled attitude is to be expected of police tho obviously. It just confirms for me that’s what you all think you’re better than the rest of us.

Nobody cares. If you can afford your second home you can afford the council tax. Go and complain somewhere else.

Given that the area of Scotland that I come from, has entire villages that have not one Scot living there, just second home owners from down south, I have no sympathy. Holiday homes have buggered up housing for locals. I get that it's lovely to visit, but just book a hotel please as there is a knock on effect.

Register it as business and use it as holiday let.

I hope you end up not bring able to afford the second home.

I live in the Peak District and our village is being taken over by second homes. I’d much prefer people living in them full time where ever they come from, even for them to be rented out for holidays would be preferable. A person can always come up with something as to why they are the exception and should have a second home but they do t realise the damage they are doing to the community. I hope England follows Wales

Speak to the council as he should get a reduction on the council tax as it's unoccupied that's what my mil did for her mum when she had to go into a home

I can't really find any sympathy for you despite the fact you are a hard working public servant. A second home is a luxury not right or a necessity. I know plenty of pubkic sector workers who can't afford to own one home in the South West because they are priced out by second home owners. I assume Wales has decided to increase the tax just for second home owners because if you've got enough spare cash to own another home it's not going to mean hardship for you rather than hike it up for local families /people earning low local wages struggling to make ends meet. I think that is entirely fair really.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Meanwhile, people trying to access food banks are being told to budget better and getting cooking tips.

I think (hope) this is probably a wind up. Most people are hard working, many have two or three jobs to make ends meet. Second home council tax is way up there as a first world problem, in a country where a third of households are on the breadline.

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