to have little sympathy for this landlady facing a £20,000 tax bill

[cakeorwine]

You need to listen to the story

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0l91m83

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gegkxxlg3o

It sounds like she had 8 holiday lets in Blackpool. If a holiday let is not let for more than 70 nights a year, then it becomes classed as a second home.

Under a second home, she is liable for Council tax.
6 of these now seem liable for backdated council tax and she faces a £20,000 backdated tax bill.

Apparently landlords have been given a year to prepare.

She is worried about the tax bill and says that if she goes to the hospital, she hopes its bad news.

She also talks about famiiles who have come regularly to the lets.

But if the properties aren't being let for more than 70 nights a year, then they aren't very popular holiday lets - and should be occupied by people who need a home.

Maybe she should rent out some of the other properties to people who need a place to live in to pay the tax bill.

As an aside, it's also interesting to read the BBC article which does not mention the details of why a let might become liable for Council Tax payments.

@Lovelysummerdays It is cheap but would you want to stay there in all honesty? I’m assuming you’d fork out a little more for something a bit nicer or if you really didn’t have the money something even cheaper with a cooked breakfast.

I don't think so in that area. I grew up in Blackpools "hinterland" (and I am 67 now, so known it for a long time), which is actually quite massive - I know families from West Yorkshire who regularly go to Blackpool. It isn't the seaside resort that I remember. Although, to be fair, I may have rosy tinted glasses - places are different for children. But to an extent that is my point - there are many many families who live on low incomes, either low paid or benefits, and a week in Blackpool (possibly twice a year) is what they can afford. And for children, it's the seaside. A beach, donkeys, zoo, the tower, amusement parks / arcades... Blackpool isn't what it was, and for complex reasons it is a very poor town (one of, if not, the poorest in England), but it is still heaving much of the year, and in the eyes of many it is still a place to be. Yes they have limited themselves by rejecting part of the market - but that says to me that they are able to happily make a living on the couples and families. And it is still a destination, especially for families. The market is there, and if they aren't getting the bookings, then council tax aside, they were never profitable on what they claim is their usage, so why on earth haven't they shut up shop already? Or more to the point, since they say this has been the case for so long - there has long been a massive demand for HMO's / housing for benefit claimants in Blackpool (not saying that is what it needs or wants, but it is the case) and that property appears to have been ripe to let to that clientele. And we all know that even good landlords (which I am going to assume they would be) can make a nice living out of rented property for benefit claimants. But not £200 - £300 a week.

And I am going to guess that the average MN familiy wouldn't want to stay there, no. That doesn't mean the average low paid family wouldn't.

Oh and look at that - they have literally updated their website today and added Judith and her husband, and removed the son and DIL as "proprieters". I guess they have read the thread then! That says it all really.

Edit to add - they also put the prices up since this morning!!!

That’s all well and good but Blackpool has strict rules on conversation of holiday accommodation into residential accommodation. Nobody is going to be living in those flats.

Rules put into place to protect developers converting properties in the hotel zone or turning them into HMOs (which Blackpool has an oversupply of) and the new council tax rules to prevent residential properties being turned into holiday lets have led to an unintended consequence of a small number of properties that can only be used as holiday lets having to pay council tax as if they were residential properties.

Blackpool wants to keep the hotel district as hotels and residential buildings for local people. The irony is, the already struggling small holiday aparthotels are going to be pushed out of business by the new council tax rules so Blackpool will just end up with a bunch of empty buildings in the hotel zone that can’t be sold because they aren’t financially viable as a business any more and that can’t be converted to homes 🤷‍♀️

Holiday Accommodation Conversion Rules

I think Blackpool might have to look at its planning laws again.

They COULD, doesn't mean they have
The BBC and other media are there to provide entertainment, they are not there for social cruscade

I agree they didn't in this instance. That doesn't mean they are supposed to work in this way.

News journalism is supposed to involve actual investigation. Otherwise news outlets are just a mouthpiece for anyone who wants to use them as one

No journalist with integrity produces articles without doing any background digging

Ha ha ha... Good! I am glad this woman has been hit with this huge tax bill. No-one but NO-ONE should have more than one home, and I detest people with a 'portfolio' of properties. The more people with multiple homes get stung, the better IMO. As has been said, she can sell one of her houses to pay off this bill! Simples. And yes, she has been renting out cash in hand, and it's bit her on the arse. Shame. 😆 How pathetic going to the newspapers with her Daily Fail sad face! 😢

(Obviously people who are accidental landlords, who only have one extra home - that they've been forced to rent out as they had to leave the area and couldn't sell their home - don't deserve this, but they are very likely to not be cheating the taxman!)

Much more likely inherited wealth. I despise her because she is property hoarding, when she could sell or rent to 7 families looking for somewhere to live.

@LikeWhoUsesTypewritersAnyway, @Hardlyworking RTFT or, at least, the article.

She isn’t a landlord, she is an hotelier.

She owns 1 property. A house subdivided into self catering accommodation.

It is only worth about £250k.

Blackpool council has very strict rules about letting or converting holiday accommodation as homes. It is unlikely she could sell or rent the accommodation as a home. They have a surfeit of HMOs and they don’t want holiday accommodation in the hotel zone to be converted to homes.

Conversely, the council doesn’t want homes in residential areas being used as holiday accommodation, taking homes from locals. Blackpool has introduced the council tax rule to stop residential homes being lost as holiday homes or holiday lets.

An unintended consequence of the rules in combination is that self catered holiday flats that the council doesn’t want or allow to be used as homes are being taxed as if they were residential properties. They are businesses, businesses that the council wants to remain but the new rule is likely to put many of the already struggling businesses out of business. They should be taxed as businesses, not home, if the property is restricted by planning rules to be used only for business. How can you define a property that is not permitted to be used for residential purposes as a residence for council tax purposes? It makes no sense.

My home town has a second home council tax premium of 100%. They also allow an exemption for properties that cannot be let as homes or sold separately because of planning restrictions on the property. Blackpool could easily do the same.

If you bothered to read the article instead of being misinformed and outraged you’d see they are 8 small lets contained within one building. Definitely not separate homes!

I agree that people hoarding houses is wrong and I fully support the second home taxes, but being angry at a woman running a few small holiday lets in Blackpool to make a living isn’t right either!

I can’t believe how so many people have not even done their research and understood before spouting this nonsense. They are 8 small lets within one building, which trades as a business - short term holiday lets! You say “caught up with her” like she’s done something wrong. She’s been screwed over by legislation meaning her holiday lets have to pay domestic council tax, which is so wrong!

Finally someone talking some sense! Explained the issue perfectly

If she can't let flats out for 20% of the year then she doesn't have a viable business. How is she running it on just a 20% occupancy rate? Whether they are small units in a house or not either she has an unviable business or she's not declaring her occupancy. My mil had a holiday let in Wales where you need a far higher occupancy rate. It was unviable so she's sold up, which I think is the purpose of the charge Many people have done. This lady is not unique.

8 lets where most of them are not occupied for more than 70 nights a year.

Could that property be put to better use?

Have you been to Blackpool? Occupancy may be hard to hit, I’ve seen a few big chain hotels have opened there, might not be as easy as it seems. Feel sorry for her if that’s the case, just wanted to correct you that she doesn’t own 8 homes as you seemed to think.

They seem to be a small family business trying to keep things going. They’ve been running for years it says on the article. Had a glance at their website and it does look dated but I did see some updated kitchens and bathrooms.