Second home owners have slammed a proposal to introduce council tax premium in North Yorkshire, saying they are “easy targets for a complicated problem”.
Just days after North Yorkshire County Council’s executive agreed to investigate whether it could effectively levy a 100 per cent council tax rise on second homes, people who have owned a holiday home in the county for decades said the move would simply make second homes the privilege of the wealthy.
The local authority has heralded the proposal, which it believes could generate £14m extra a year for its services, as a signal of its intent to get to grips with the lack of affordable housing affecting communities, particularly in the county’s national parks and coastal areas.
Last month residents in Whitby voted overwhelmingly in favour of introducing measures to reduce the number of homes being used for holiday accommodation. That followed last year’s Rural Commision recommending actions to reverse the ongoing exodus of young families from areas where house prices are many times above average wages.
The county council’s leadership says interventions are needed more than ever to release homes for local residents, particularly following the widely reported post-pandemic surge in second home purchases in North Yorkshire villages.
Askrigg in Wensleydale is now comprised of about 70 per cent second homes and holiday lets.
However, second home owners have voiced dismay over the proposal to levy the premium from April 2024 if the government introduces the necessary legislation, questioning whether it would harm the local economy or be effective in reducing property prices or increase the housing stock for locals.
Debate on online forums such as the Dales Home Owners Action Group has seen members condemn the proposal as “half-baked”.
One objector stated: “We are easy targets for a complicated problem and it won’t mean that the locals suddenly have lots of cheap houses or massive pay rises.”
Hawes and High Abbotside Parish Council chair Councillor Jill McMullon said the proposal was “a nonsense” as it had so many loopholes.
Second home owners have said if the premium is introduced they would recoup their losses by shipping in groceries instead of using local shops and services less frequently.
Yorkshire Dales second home owner Mark Cox said: “I expect it will simply make second homes the preserve of the rich, as opposed to the moderately well-off.
“I expect the funds raised won’t be ringfenced for local affordable housing and will soon vanish into the usual council overspending.
“Second home owners are an easy target, but who will be next? Extra council tax for hardworking locals who own holiday rental properties that pay neither council tax nor business rates?”
Comments are closed.
Those richer than most don’t want to pay more than most. Shocked.
People can simply follow the example of their MPs and “flip” their properties. That way the second home becomes their first and their first their second. They end up paying no more than now.
Or they can simply set up their second homes as a business. Stop paying Council tax and then simply pay a fee (£1) to stay in their own property…
They would be against it ,wouldn’t they .It seems a very fair idea to people that live here with just the one home !!
If someone is not occupying a home (that local people would be willing to fill) they should be penalized, because they add nothing to the community and are responsible for creating veritable ghost villagers.
Same old .. the best and quickest solution is to allow the building of more homes or better still allow locals to build their own with assistant schemes from the government and financial services. Eg Many years ago Skipton Building Society had a savings scheme where if people saved a specific amount every month for a given period – 2 years I think- they were guaranteed a mortgage. Also Joining together to set up self build groups is a solution where the group help each other with the building – Something will have to be done – there are far too many businesses having to work part time because of lack of staffing not helped by lack of housing. If it continues the area will be far less attractive to tourists anyway.
“…who will be next? …hardworking locals who own holiday rental properties that pay neither council tax nor business rates?”
I for one would disagree with “locals who own holiday rental properties that pay neither council tax nor business rates…” being ‘next’; rather than at some future date, I would propose that NYCC introduce council tax charges for those properties at the same time as this premium on the second homes.
The lack of affordable housing in this and many other areas of the country is the result of central and local government policies and their failure to invest in housing over the last several decades. It is certainly not the fault of home owners, even second home owners, and it can not be the responsibility of private individuals to fund or rectify government policy failings.