To be conflicted by the crackdown on 2nd homes

[chairz]

I complete understand the problems they cause & do agree with a higher levy but thenI have used holiday cottages lots of times in the past & plan to in the future.

It's not ridiculous. Too many tourists IS a thing. In tourist areas the price of basic items, shops, cafes etc increases. The number of holiday homes increases which reduces the number of properties for families and they have to move out of the area. You think it's good that whole towns and villages shut down for half the year? When there's people crying out for homes? And what do those employed in the service industry in those areas do for half the year?

Sorry, to be clear I'm agreeing with antelope valley

@DirtyteaCup

Having a kitchen so that you can arrive with your Ocado order or Fortnums hamper and contribute nothing to the local economy?

No, not Ocado or Fortnums, However as 3 of us are vegan we can't always shop locally.

In some places we are catered for really well, others not at all. So we take our own vegan foods - Minor Figures Oatmilk, Naturli spread, Honestly Tasty Vegan cheese (can only be bought online) all the sort of things that you can't get in many places. Fresh stuff and bread, crisps and wine we'd buy locally.

I usually have breakfast at about 6.30am and unfortunately hotels, B&Bs and cafes won't open for breakfast that early.

If we fancy a coffee or tea late afternoon, there is usually only mini long life milk at a hotel and no fridge for my own Oatmilk. Can't face queuing in a café and have to have black tea or coffee, because again, no oat or soya milk.

We eat out at local restaurants whenever we can, but there isn't always a vegan option, or there is only one option, so we run out of places to go.

Having a kitchen gives flexibility. It means that you can eat when you want and what you want.

It is unfair to local people. We just bought our home for us to live in and raise our family. We needed a sizeable mortgage and huge deposit. We are local and were in competition with several ‘second home’ buyers from London who had sold one of their £ million + flats in London to be able to be cash buyers.

Luckily the owner liked the idea of the property going to a family, and being used as a family home.

Having a kitchen gives flexibility. It means that you can eat when you want and what you want.

I agree. The place we stay every year on Skye is ten miles away from the nearest pub and shop and a 1.5 hour round trip to the nearest supermarket. We do a supermarket shop in Fort William on the way, but we are there for two weeks so we obviously need to buy more food. We do eat out of course but it is also nice to have the option of a simple meal in.

Higher council tax charges and a fee for an empty house will only be passed to holiday makers and renters and create an even bigger problem.

To all those congratulating yourselves on the fact you stay at holiday parks with caravans, lodges tents etc. That land could be used to build affordable homes for local so you are no better than the people who stay in cottages

So you’re saying no one should go on holiday unless you can afford to stay in a hotel/B&B for a week or two?

That's not true. Lots of holiday park in Cumbria are built because planning permission for homes was turned down, multiple times.

My dad is freeholder of one such park (doesn't own the park, just the land) and he made multiple applications for properties on the land - affordable homes, luxury homes, different styles of homes, appeals etc and they just wouldn't budge. 150 log cabins on the other hand, no problem. Its a common issue.

No I'm not saying no one should go on holiday unless you can afford to stay in a hotel/B&B for a week or two. Just pointing out a bit of hypocrisy. The problem is nowhere that locals can afford and neither holiday destination be it cottages or lodges etc is helping the locals.

Holiday homes should be banned outright. Nobody should be allowed to home multiple homes when so many people can't afford to own even one.

Surely, all those are built on land that could’ve been taken up by homes for the local community, instead.

I agree with you.

Am very sad to say the most affordable house in our village , which a young family , who live ( rented) locally and have been waiting ages for a house they can afford . And want to send child local school... have had their offer rejected in favour of a second home cash buyer.
The owner really wanted a local to get it.. the agent advised to go with cash buyer as safer than a mortgage applicant. Ffs .

Poor owner, what a dilemma. They 'really' wanted a local to get it but were persuaded by the bullying nasty agent who held a gun to their head.

The owner obviously wasnt that bothered, as noone forced him to take the cash offer.

Investors almost always come in with cash offers, while working families and FTBs need mortgages. In the majority of cases the mortgage goes through fine and there is no detriment to the seller in accepting that offer. If the owner wanted them to have it, he should have ignored the EAs advice.

Well a B&B could be a family home (actually they often are) and a hotel could be flats. The land for a theme park could be used for a vast housing estate. Where do you stop with that argument?

Poor owner, what a dilemma. They 'really' wanted a local to get it but were persuaded by the bullying nasty agent who held a gun to their head

Indeed. Why are so many landlords and owners bullied by estate agents? Tail and dog and wagging comes to mind!

neither holiday destination be it cottages or lodges etc is helping the locals

I disagree, lodges cannot be used as homes as they are usually too small and may be part of a farm or vineyard or somewhere where the council says no residential use but you can have short term holiday lets. Very different from buying a house from over the heads of the sitting tenants in the example above.

Also filling every square inch of spare land with affordable housing massively changes the infrastructure. Fewer school places, fewer GP appointments, fewer social services. The issue is the unaffordable housing we already have, not building more.

I don't disagree. There is absolutely no need for it. And being unable to wait until 7am for breakfast is the most stupid excuse for unethical behaviour I've ever heard! Anyway there are hotels which have mini kitchens.

Also filling every square inch of spare land with affordable housing massively changes the infrastructure. Fewer school places, fewer GP appointments, fewer social services. The issue is the unaffordable housing we already have, not building more

Also very true. We have plenty of homes in the UK but many are empty and many are holiday homes. Bring them all back into residential use and we might not need to build any more houses on green field sites.

One of the problems is that there are so many different variables and not all second holes are the same.

I have a second home. It's a wooden lodge on a holiday park and year round occupation is not permitted so I am not depriving any locals of a permanent home.

It cost well under the normal limit for stamp duty, but I had to pay stamp duty because there are no exemptions for second homes. I pay council tax. Frankly I don't see why I should pay more than the normal because I use hardly any council services - just the roads really. I don't have a rubbish collection because I pay for that separately as part of the site fees.

Sorry, posted too soon.

I pay council tax so my holiday home is not registered as a small business and I didn't get a grant during Covid. I do not let it out, except to friends and family - and usually I don't charge them anything other than asking them to pay for the electricity they used.

A friend who has a similar property on the same site is registered as a small business so doesn't pay council tax. She did receive the Covid grant, but I think that was fair enough as she normally rents it out a lot to holidaymakers and obviously she wasn't allowed to do that during the various lockdowns and she would have lost a lot of income.

Many councils are tightening up on the criteria for claiming you are a small business and I think that is a good thing.

Personally think Meibion Glyndwr had the right idea

Taniwch dros Cymru