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.

On the bright side (not for you though op) we are buying into a property which the Landlord is selling because it's unaffordable.

It means my family and I have a roof over our heads and don't join the many families in the UK who are in temporary accommodation.

I've not read it all but have you thought about a second job? Or could your partner in the evenings at home?

Its tough with so many things are going up in price but I have to agree on second homes being charged more.

Collective eye roll from Wales…

it’s an attempt to address housing shortages (house prices being drive up), under funding of local services (lack of local tax paid) and community cohesion (empty homes). The ability for you to have a holiday home is way down the list of priorities.

I know how that sounds, but I am a HARD WORKING police officer with a second home in Wales

😂🤣🤣

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I would have thought it was something to keep quiet about at the moment given the behaviour of a large number of police officers recently.

I also blame the people who sell to second home buyers, they should sell only to locals then this wouldn't be a problem.

How interesting. Whereabouts are you (just a vague area, I'm not trying to track you down). I live in a very pretty and touristy part of Scotland and this hasn't happened at all. Some English people, yes but they have fully moved up here and are full time, paying council tax etc and trying to be part of communities which is not always easy. Property price rises round here are a bit bonkers but that seems to be driven largely by Scottish people wanting to move out of cities.

I live in Wales and 100% support the rise.

if you can afford to buy a 2nd home, you can surely afford the rise. Its because of people like you, we have a major problem with housing stock.

suck it up or sell up.

You lost me at HARD WORKING

So confused about what your job as a police officer has to do with anything at all.

and talk of corruption in the government? I mean it is. But you might also want to look at your own Job and organisation. The corruption within the police is massively damaging to society.

I have never understood the appeal of a second home. You like somewhere so much, but you contribute to ruining it. By buying a second home, you make house prices rise. Worse than they would, Otherwise.

Local people, who are part of the reason the area is lovely, are priced out. It’s not great for the local economy. Someone living all the times in these houses would spend more in the local economy as they are there all the time.

If you love an area, visit often and rent a cottage or a caravan keep putting money into the area. Not turning it into a crap area where people can’t afford to live.

I (a carer) inherited a house in Wales, I can't afford to keep it empty so I've chosen to rent it out to someone who would struggle on their own to afford it to keep doing their job (which is more for the love of it than the pay). Every year we have to consider selling up, but my family member hoped I'd get use out of it one day. Maybe one day when the kids are gone I will move there and work as a carer. But I strongly suspect I'd be unwelcome/ unable to find work, even moving threre, the housing market in Wales is one where you have to be pretty thick skinned to plough on and ignore the effect it is having on struggling communities.

Good one OP. If that policing doesn't WORK OUT for you, you can always fall back on comedy.

Have to say, as a Cumbria resident, I wish something similar was introduced to the Lake District. It's infuriating that I have to pay over £200 a month for my Council tax when so many home owners around here are paying very little. They should be made to pay.

My best friend has just been evicted from her rental she’s lived in for 6 years l, so it could become a holiday home!
the flats where my dad live, only 2/8 are permanent residents and the holiday makers come in causing issues.
sorry yes, if you have a second home I think you should be paying double council tax!
so many locals are being priced out due to greed of second home owners!

Why can't you relax with the kids at your main home, rather than denying someone else a roof over their head?
Sorry but I have no sympathy at all.

Second homes should be banned imo

Nobody needs more that one home. The fact you have it simply means perhaps the council tax is too low. If we reduced immigration and birth rate to shrink the population then maybe having second homes could fly (like in Sweden where people have summer homes). Second home ownership forces prices up and contributes to our housing shortage and lack of affordability in the rental and sale market.

This has got to be a joke?
if it’s not just know….no one cares how expensive your second home is. In fact I’m happy it’s expensive for your, as are the local residents in wales I expect.

If you can afford a second home then you can afford to pay all the bills in full - no way should you be subsidised by the state.

As for working HARD, well most people who work are hardworking so stop thinking you're special - you're not.

My Dad lives in a seaside town in Wales and he's said a lot of people are selling second homes due to the cost of living rise.

I'm already I do also agree, that if you own a second home, you have to budget for price increases.

This a hundred times!

Does he have dementia? If so it’s possible he could get a reduction or have it stopped altogether.

@GCAcademic

No one ever thinks of those of us who have third and fourth homes. We are some of the most hard-done-by members of society.

Praying for you my child.🙏

I live in a national park (not in Wales) where local people struggle to afford a home just to live in, partly because of second homes. There are communities here, but the wages earnt by local people cannot compete with the wealthy cash buyers, who are often from the SE/London.

Likewise. And the rental market is dreadful because many landlords would rather sell to wealthy Londoners looking for second homes than continue renting. It makes it nigh on impossible to find a first home in the area, because so many people have decided they want second homes.

This loophole had also been closed by the Welsh Government. If you register a house as a self catering holiday let it has to be a genuine business -available to book 90% of the year and full 50%+ of the year.

Not sure how they are going to tackle the "flipping" loophole.

You CAN own a second property. You DO own a second property. Think of your council tax as compensation for pricing locals out of houses, disrupting community feeling in small villages etc.

If you can’t afford a second home now, sell it. It’s really not something that most people are going to be able to summon much sympathy for I’m afraid.